What are Mycotoxins?
A mycotoxin is a toxin produced by a fungus under special conditions of moisture and temperature. These fungi may colonize or infect many kinds of food from the field where you play to the table where you eat.
Mycotoxicosis is the term used for poisoning caused by ingestion of a mycotoxin.
For the past 15 years in North America, evidence has slowly accumulated implicating this fungus as a serious problem in homes and buildings that must be dealt with quickly and efficiently.
Black mold is also tagged by specialists as one of the causes of the “sick building syndrome.”
What do Mycotoxins Cause?
In 1993-1994 in Cleveland Ohio, there was a very unusual outbreak of pulmonary hemorrhage among infants. Researchers then found out that Black mold was growing in the homes of the sick infants.
This incident alone increased the publics awareness of molds in homes and buildings. They also brought this fungus to the immediate attention of the medical community hoping for answers.
How Do I Know if I Have Mycotoxins?
To determine any growth of S. chartarum (Black Mold) in your home would only require visual inspection and/or air and surface sampling. Because black mold is not readily airborne compared to other fungi, air sampling in a contaminated indoor environment may show low levels of spores in the air.
Thorough examinations of potential sites of contamination, especially in covered and protected places, is a must to determine where the fungus occurs and the level of contamination.
If areas contaminated with S. chartarum are discovered, do not attempt to solve the problem without following recommended safety procedures for working with toxic molds, especially if heavily contaminated.
Get advice or professional help if there is a serious problem.
14 comments
[…] jump to conclusions that the mold is dangerous. The truth is that there are over 200 known types of mycotoxins, or toxicities released by mold. Not all of these are dangerous, though it is unknown how many […]
[…] sick. Even if the visible mold is cut off, many times the roots as well as bacteria and toxic mycotoxins will still be left growing in the food. Trust me, you don’t want to eat toxic mold […]
[…] Black mold, white mold, green mold and any other kinds all require scrutiny along with scientific methodology to ascertain if the sampled mold is a genus known to produce mycotoxins. […]
[…] Mycotoxins and the Effects of Black Mold […]
[…] Black Mold and the Effects of Mycotoxins […]
[…] problems and sickness quickly where as others progressively worsen over time. Molds that contain mycotoxins are the cause of the illness from mold […]
Hi my name is Evelyn Vazquez and I bought a new house that has black mold. I tried to fix/clean it but it’s still here
Evelyn,
When you have black mold contamination in your home the best thing to do is call in the professionals.
You can try to do use tips from the following post :
5 Levels of Mold Remediation
A mold remediator will detect the places where mold is growing, remove it, and also find the reason why the mold is growing, ie a leak or previous water damage.
Good luck!
Joslyn from the MoldBlogger team
I am looking for what the colors of mold mean.
In my test kit, it shows light green in the middle, and white on the outside of the ring. The underneath shows black.
Is there not a color level with level of danger on this site? Need to know.
Please send followup.
thank you
what is the best way to eliminate mold from books?
I’m curious about bleach on carpets. Will that kill and deter mold. Or will bleach make it worse? What are the sure tale signs that our living room carpet that has been tread on by the dog, kids, spills and dampness is a hazard!
I live in apartment and i have lived here for a little over 5 years now. The whole time that i have lived here the roof has had several leaks throughout the apartment.The intake vent for the central heating and air leaks water pretty bad whenever we get a good rain. In the bathroom, there was mold in shower that was instead of being cleaned, was caulked over instead. I was just curious if i am in any danger of mold exsposure. My health has seemed to have gotten pretty bad in the last 3 years or so, and now also have a very bad circulation problem with swelling alot. My eyes are always bed red like i was swimming in a pool all day with my eyes open,and i constantly have terrible headaches with confusion. Could there possibly be mold in my home from these problems i have stated and what should i do from here? Please help.Thank you,sincerely, kim
I have a 3.5 month old baby in my home, I would hate for my home to become infested with mycotoxins! Life is precious.
Why mold cause sever health problems just because of the people not take any action when they found mold in their house and after that the mold increases in growth and cause severe health issues to homeowners. They spend their day in that environment which is highly affected with the Toxic black mold which can also harmful to your health and cause a permanent damage. Homeowners never realize the affter effects of that black mold until they practically go through it. Toxic black mold cause problems such as mental disability, damaging internal organs, and sometimes a purpose of death. You can just have a quick checklist to remove Black mold without killing the environment as i have found both of the articles helpful for me. http://www.floodaz.com/how-to-remove-black-mold-without-killing-the-environment/