{"id":14980,"date":"2025-06-25T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=14980"},"modified":"2025-06-13T16:51:40","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T16:51:40","slug":"black-mould-health-risks-toxicology-myths-indoor-air-quality-mycotoxins-june-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/black-mould-health-risks-toxicology-myths-indoor-air-quality-mycotoxins-june-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Is black mould really as bad for us as we think? A toxicologist explains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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\n \n
\n \n Peeradontax\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n Ian Musgrave<\/a>, University of Adelaide<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

Mould in houses is unsightly and may cause unpleasant odours. More important though, mould has been linked to a range of health effects \u2013 especially triggering asthma<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

However, is mould exposure linked to a serious lung disease in children, unrelated to asthma? As we\u2019ll see, this link may not be real<\/a>, or if it is, it\u2019s so rare to not be a meaningful risk. Yet we still hear mould in damp homes described as \u201ctoxic\u201d.<\/p>\n\n

Indeed, mouldy homes can harm people\u2019s health, but not necessarily how you might think.<\/p>\n\n

What is mould?<\/h2>\n\n

Mould<\/a> is the general term for a variety of fungi. The mould that people have focused on in damp homes is \u201cblack mould\u201d. This forms unsightly black patches on walls and other parts of damp-affected buildings. <\/p>\n\n

Black mould is not a single fungus. But when people talk about black mould, they generally mean the fungus Stachybotrys chartarum<\/a><\/em> or S. chartarum<\/em> for short. It\u2019s one of experts\u2019 top ten feared fungi<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

The focus on this species comes from a report in the 1990s<\/a> on cases of haemorrhagic lung disease in a number of infants. This is a rare disease where blood leaks into the lungs, and can be fatal. The report suggested chemicals known as mycotoxins associated with this species of fungus were responsible for the outbreak.<\/p>\n\n

What are mycotoxins?<\/h2>\n\n

A variety of fungi produce mycotoxins<\/a> to defend themselves<\/a>, among other reasons. <\/p>\n\n

Hundreds of different chemicals are listed as myocytoxins. These include ones in poisonous mushrooms<\/a>, and ones associated with the soil fungi Aspergillus flavus<\/em> and A. parasiticus<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n

The fungus typically associated with black mould S. chartarum<\/em> can produce several mycotoxins<\/a>. These include roridin<\/a>, which inhibits protein synthesis in humans and animals, and satratoxins<\/a>, which have numerous toxic effects including bleeding in the lungs. <\/p>\n\n

While the satratoxins, in particular, were mentioned in the report from the 90s<\/a> in children, there are some problems<\/a> when we look at the evidence.<\/p>\n\n

The amount of mycotoxins S. chartarum<\/em> makes can vary considerably<\/a>. Even if significant amounts of mycotoxin are present, getting them into the body in the required amount to cause damage is another thing.<\/p>\n\n

Inhaling spores in contaminated (mouldy) homes is the most probable way mycotoxins enter the body. For instance, we know mycotoxins can be found in S. chartarum<\/em> spores<\/a>. We also know direct injection of high concentrations of mycotoxin-bearing spores directly in the noses of mice<\/a> can cause some lung bleeding.<\/p>\n\n

\n \"Stachybotrys<\/a>\n
\n Stachybotrys chartarum<\/em> mycotoxins have been blamed for lung issues after exposure to black mould.<\/span>\n Kateryna Kon\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

But just because inhaling spores is the probable route of contamination doesn\u2019t mean this is very likely.<\/p>\n\n

That\u2019s because S. chartarum<\/em> doesn\u2019t release a lot of spores. Its spores are typically embedded in a slimy mass<\/a> and it rarely produces the spore densities needed to replicate the animal studies<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

The original reports suggesting the US infants who were diagnosed with haemorrhagic lung disease<\/a> were exposed to toxic levels of mycotoxins were also flawed<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n

Among other issues, the concentrations of mould spores was calculated incorrectly<\/a>. Subsequent correction for these issues resulted in the association between S. chartarum<\/em> and this disease cluster basically disappearing<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n

The American Academy of Asthma Allergy and Immunology<\/a> states while there is a clear, well-established relationship between damp indoor spaces and detrimental health effects, there is no good evidence black mould mycotoxins are involved<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

But mould can cause allergies<\/h2>\n\n

Moulds can affect human health in ways unrelated to mycotoxins, typically through allergic reactions. Moulds including black moulds can trigger or worsen asthma attacks in people with mould allergies<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n

Some rarer but severe reactions can include allergic fungal sinusitis<\/a>, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis<\/a> and rarer still, hypersensitivity pneumonitis<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n

These can typically be controlled by removing the mould<\/a> (or removing the person from the source of mould).<\/p>\n\n

People with impaired immune systems (such as people taking immune-suppressant medications) may also be prone to mould infections<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

In a nutshell<\/h2>\n\n

There is sufficient evidence that household mould is associated with respiratory issues attributable to their allergic effects. <\/p>\n\n

However, there is no strong evidence mycotoxins from household mould \u2013 and in particular black mould \u2013 are associated with substantial health issues.\"The<\/p>\n\n

Ian Musgrave<\/a>, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Peeradontax\/Shutterstock Ian Musgrave, University of Adelaide Mould in houses is unsightly and may cause unpleasant odours. More important…\n","protected":false},"author":1253,"featured_media":14982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/2\/26\/Mold_from_a_grapefruit.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[13054,13059,13073,13061,13057,13069,13052,13077,13078,13044,13053,13079,13060,13045,13064,13068,13058,13051,13046,13063,13070,13080,13076,13065,13055,13075,13041,13049,13071,13072,13066,13056,13074,13067,13047,13062,13050,13048,13043,13042],"class_list":{"0":"post-14980","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-and-body","8":"tag-allergic-bronchopulmonary-aspergillosis","9":"tag-allergic-fungal-sinusitis-causes","10":"tag-allergy-vs-toxicity-mould","11":"tag-american-academy-mould-guidelines","12":"tag-asthma-triggered-by-mould","13":"tag-black-mould-and-lung-disease","14":"tag-black-mould-in-homes","15":"tag-damp-homes-respiratory-issues","16":"tag-damp-indoor-space-allergies","17":"tag-debunking-mould-health-myths","18":"tag-effects-of-mycotoxins-inhalation","19":"tag-fungal-infections-from-mould","20":"tag-fungal-spores-indoor-air","21":"tag-household-allergens-mould","22":"tag-household-fungi-allergic-reaction","23":"tag-household-mould-health-risks","24":"tag-immune-suppressed-mould-risks","25":"tag-immune-system-and-mould-infection","26":"tag-indoor-air-quality-mould","27":"tag-indoor-mould-respiratory-problems","28":"tag-misconceptions-about-black-mould","29":"tag-mould-allergy-symptoms","30":"tag-mould-and-asthma-link","31":"tag-mould-and-haemorrhagic-lung-disease","32":"tag-mould-and-hypersensitivity-pneumonitis","33":"tag-mould-exposure-in-children","34":"tag-mould-health-effects-children","35":"tag-mould-in-damp-buildings","36":"tag-mould-odour-and-health","37":"tag-mould-removal-for-health","38":"tag-mould-spore-inhalation-risks","39":"tag-mould-related-hypersensitivity","40":"tag-mycotoxins-from-mould","41":"tag-respiratory-illness-from-mould","42":"tag-roridin-toxin-effects","43":"tag-s-chartarum-health-concerns","44":"tag-satratoxins-health-effects","45":"tag-stachybotrys-chartarum-fungus","46":"tag-toxic-black-mould-myth","47":"tag-toxic-mould-science-facts","48":"cs-entry","49":"cs-video-wrap"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1253"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14980"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14981,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14980\/revisions\/14981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}