Are Mycotoxins Making You Sick?
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Have you heard about Mycotoxins and wondered what they are?
Today we’re talking about these toxic byproducts of mold, what they are, where they come from, how they can affect your health, and what to do about them.
It can be overwhelming information for sure, but knowledge is definitely power in this case and it will help you do what you can to feel better.
If you’d have mentioned the word, mycotoxins” to me years ago, I wouldn’t have had a clue what you were talking about. However, over the past few years, I have had to learn what mycotoxins are because my life was turned upside down by them.
Mycotoxins damaged my health and they were the result of mold damage that we had in our house. We didn’t realize it at the time, but we were living in a moldy environment.
We couldn’t see mold in the livable space in our home, but it was in our attic. Mold exposure can cause a wide range of symptoms. However, it wasn’t until we moved out that I began to realize that mycotoxins were still impacting my health.
When we moved out of our old home, we took everything with us. Once we moved into our new home and started to unpack the items, I smelled a familiar smell…
I came to learn that mycotoxins travel. They especially like cloth and porous material.
Once in our new home, I began to feel better since I wasn’t living in the moldy environment, but I was frustrated because I wasn’t getting completely better. It was at that point that I finally realized it was the mycotoxins that were continuing to harm me.
I ultimately had to get rid of most of the items we had moved in from our old house.
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So What Are Mycotoxins Anyway?
The term “mycotoxin” hasn’t been around very long and it isn’t very well known; however, it’s more common than most people realize.
Scientists coined the term in 1962 after a crisis resulting in the death of 100,000 turkeys in England. Their deaths were linked to a peanut meal contaminated with secondary metabolites from a fungal toxin.
According to the US National Library of Medicine,
“mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by microfungi that are capable of causing disease and death in humans and other animals.”
However, they also mention that “mycotoxins are not only hard to define, they are also challenging to classify.”
In other words, mycotoxins are a toxic chemical that some molds produce. In fact, you know that “new car smell” or even the smell that dryer sheets leave on your clothes or that smell that comes from dryer vents that you can smell when you’re out for a walk and pass by a home where they are doing laundry? Yuck–those are volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In fact, mycotoxins are VOCs as well. They are similar in structure to ketones, aldehydes, alcohols, and aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons. You can see more about the concerns about these components of artificial fragrances here.
Mycotoxins Are Dangers to Your Health
There are over 400 mycotoxins.
Some mycotoxins are mildly annoying, resulting in allergy-like symptoms, but others can make you very sick and even be life-threatening. Diseases caused by exposures to mycotoxins is known as mycotoxicosis.
Everyone responds differently to them, making it hard for both yourself and medical professionals to know/diagnose what is going on with your body and whether it is related to mycotoxins or not.
Some people don’t exhibit much, if any observable response to mycotoxins. The reason is partly due to genetics.
Genetic deficiencies related to the HLA-DR gene can make people more susceptible to mold toxicity. People with this gene have will likely have difficulty recovering from mold and other toxin exposures.
This explains why two people living in the same moldy environment might react differently. In fact, that is how it was in our case.
I became extremely ill due to our mold exposure, while my husband only had minor symptoms that didn’t interfere with his daily life.
Dr. Jill Carnahan is someone who sadly knows firsthand the impact that mold and mycotoxins can take on someone. She states,
when you’re made sick by mycotoxins you’re basically being poisoned. This is called mycotoxicosis.
The symptoms of mycotoxicosis differ depending on the type of mycotoxin you’re exposed to, how long you’re exposed to it, the amount of the exposure, and your personal attributes such as age, gender, and health.
She believes that mold and mycotoxins, along with other indoor air pollutants, may contribute to over 50% of her patient’s illnesses.
Mycotoxins can be acutely or chronically toxic–depending on the type of fungus and amount of exposure. They are fat soluble, so they can be stored in organs and tissue, resulting in mold toxicity and many serious health effects, including skin and lung infections.
Mold poisoning can also affect the liver, kidneys, and brain and the entire nervous system. Mycotoxins can also suppress the immune system and lead to death.
How Mycotoxins Get Into Your Body
Mycotoxins can enter your body through your digestive and respiratory system, and even through your skin.
It’s not a pleasant thought, but mycotoxins can cause neurotoxicity impacting your brain. They can also damage your DNA and cause mitochondria (cell) dysfunction and suppress the immune system.
Mycotoxins in Food
Mycotoxins can be found in crops that have a long storage process, such as grains.
Some of the foods which they can be found in are:
- corn
- wheat
- barley
- oats
- rice
- peanuts
- coffee
- cereals
- grain-fed meat
When it comes to food, Dave Asprey, who has also been negatively impacted by mold and mycotoxins states,
between soil-destroying pesticides and abhorrent factory farming practices, the US has the most severe mycotoxin problem of any country.
What he means is that our soil has been so badly depleted by modern farming techniques, that the “bad guys”, including mycotoxins, are unable to be kept in check by the good microbes in the soil, leading to a proliferation of toxic components in the food that you eat on a daily basis.
It makes sense that if you’re dealing with mold and mycotoxins, you should consult with a physician who understands mold toxicity and consider following a low-mold diet.
You can do your own research into this as well, but buying organic coffee helps minimize the mold content and buying only Valencia peanuts and peanut butter made from Valencia peanuts greatly reduces (and possibly removes) the mold content of peanuts.
Mycotoxins in the Air
It is estimated that over 50% of buildings in the US have water damage. You can see evidence of this everywhere–water stains on the ceiling, stains on the carpet, water dripping from ceilings, warped floors peeling paint. These aren’t all definite signs of mold but they should be investigated.
And when you spill something wet on a carpet, even though you mop it up quickly, the moisture seeps through to the padding and gets trapped there, leading to mold. It only takes 48 hours for the mold to start growing–and then the mycotoxin damage begins.
Since modern houses are more tightly constructed, the toxins can build up more quickly. Additionally, modern houses in most countries are made with drywall, which is a great breeding ground for mold once it is wet.
Mycotoxins Through Your Skin
Mycotoxins can also enter the body through the skin, but this is a less common issue unless your skin is in regular contact with a source (think moldy clothing or a moldy body lotion, for example).
Testing Your Body for Mycotoxins
There are a few different ways you can test for mycotoxins in your system.
Urine
One of the ways they can be measured is in your urine. You can have a complete panel of urinary mycotoxins run through Real Time Labs or Great Plains Labs. There are also blood tests which can help pinpoint if you are experiencing health challenges due to these toxins.
Blood
Another great company is Life Extension. They are very reputable and they have a mold panel test, plus a wide range of supplements that are highly regarded around the world. Adrienne used this test. Keep in mind that the ranges on the text are for sick and non-sick people since there is no official diagnosis for mold toxicity so read the instructions about working with a mold-literate physician about interpreting the results.
Vision Test
You can also use this very affordable eyesight test to determine if mold/mycotoxins are affecting you.
How to Address Mycotoxin Exposure
Test Your Home for Mold
If you have health challenges that doctors are unable to explain, I would highly recommend checking your indoor air environment. Test for mold.
If you know you have been exposed to mold, the best thing is to get out of that environment, do what you can to remediate the problem, and then work on preventing future mold exposure while you work on your health.
Got Mold
Got Mold is a reliable place to start for testing your house for mold. No conflicts of interest, solid data, and easy access (no calling around trying to figure out who you can trust and who you can’t.)
You can also use code WHOLENEWMOM10 to get 10% off at Got Mold.
ImmunoLytics Diagnostic Tests
MicroBalance
If you are on a tight budget, then the ImmunoLytics Diagnostic Mold Test Kit is an option, but it does have drawbacks.
Petri dish testing doesn’t test anything that doesn’t fall into the dish. We did this kind of testing in our home, and it showed no real problem, but we had mold that actually gave me RA symptoms!
However, if you want to start with this, you can and for an even more inexpensive option, this 6 pack of testing petri dishes is great to see what kind of mold growth you might have going on in your home.
Micro Balance Health Products also has Mold and Mycotoxin Cleaners that will help keep the air healthy for your family. I’ve personally used these products and love them! Use Code wholenewmom to get 10% off your purchase.
CitriSafe
CitriSafe has the same tests at a lower price point, plus loads of other great products as well.
Work with a Practitioner Who “Gets” Mold
In addition to removing yourself from the environment, you will need to get the toxins out of your body. There are different protocols that can assist with removing the toxins from your body.
I highly recommend working with a healthcare professional whenever you try to detox. Detoxification is typically considered to be a good thing, but if your body isn’t healthy enough to detox, it can create problems. Think about it–if you can’t get rid of the toxins, but you are mobilizing them (moving them around) in your body, they can end up circulating and going to places where you don’t want them (think brain or other organs), or just overall making you feel worse.
Regardless, when you detox you will want to really support your detoxification system to avoid Herxheimer reactions as much as possible. To see more about this topic, you can read this post on Herxheimer reactions from candida.
Take Binders
Binders, such as activated charcoal, zeolite, and bentonite clay can help you bind the toxins to get them out of your body. You might also need to treat infections that come as a result of the exposure.
If you or a loved one you know suspect that you’re being impacted by mold or mycotoxins, seeing a functional medicine doctor who is familiar with mold illness, or another professional who is familiar with environmental illness is a good way to go. They can diagnose the situation and help put you back on the road to improved health.
Since there are different types of mycotoxins, it makes sense to take a variety of binders. This chart gives an idea of things you might want to try.
Address Indoor Air Quality
This is a much bigger topic that I will address in a stand alone post later, but if there’s mold in your home, you need to remove it properly.
In the meantime, you can also use good air purifiers and install an Iwave-R in your furnace. This has made a big difference in our home regarding how much is trapped on our filter and therefore removed from our home. Keep in mind you want to purchase direct from an HVAC professional if you want warranty coverage.
Using an HVAC filter of about MERV11 can help keep impurities out of your furnace.
Installing a Scorpion device can help with purifying your HVAC coils.
Stand-alone air purifiers are a great choice, but if you have an acute situation going on, you might consider a personal purifier that you keep near you to blow the purified air into your space.
As an official dealer, I can help with discounts on Austin Air purifiers. Just reach out to me at adrienne at wholenewmom dot com for help.
A Few Resources for Those With Mold Toxicity
The following book is written by one of the most well-respected mycotoxin experts in the world. It’s worth considering as a resource when dealing with mold illness.
Toxic: Heal Your Body from Mold, Lyme, and More
This book is a huge help for those suffering from complex illnesses like mold toxicity, chemical sensitivity, and Lyme disease.
You can also read Andrea Fabry’s Mold Story to see how mold affected one family greatly, and how they recovered from a terrible situation.
I hope this post has helped you to realize how much of a problem mold and mycotoxins can be and that you can use this information to improve the health of yourself, your family, and your loved ones.
Did you know about Mycotoxins before reading this post?
Have you suffered from reactions to mycotoxins?
I am an exposure scientist and This post was so helpful for me. I found moms with this mold exposure experience have been the best resource for me.
I’m dealing with something that I wanted to ask you about. We bought a house that is ~1950s.Well, we noticed some mold spores growing on a wall near by piping indicating to us that there was moisture somewhere. So thankfully, a leak occurred, but we noticed it right away, and we were able to identify the source and turn water off in that area .
Wellllll…….since then, I’m finding mold spores growing on wall near the leak area still, which spans a chute of wall going from upstairs shower to donwstairs bathroom…..it’s also right below my unfinished attic space that had signs of a previous leak but not since I lived here.
I had a soup container nearby that area of apple cider vingear to catch some gnats that have been around for no reason we can identify and now that it’s been out for ~1 week….I found MOLD SPORES GROWING ON THE ACV!!!!
Soooo I definitely have some sort of mold. A household member is super sensitive to allergens while I am not, so I want to take care of this asap. We also ball on a budget like you guys, so….to start, when we moved in, we had the air ducts cleaned which were filthy and the technician here said it was the worst case he seen all year and gave us free disinfecant with the clean. We also got a fancy air purifer for christmas.
Do you have any recommendations for next steps?? I’m hesitant to call a mold professional because $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ so…I welcome any first steps. Oh yeah, I also prayed!! But I need some tools. I think I need to spray the whole area with some sort of mold remover, but I dont know where to start.
Halp!
Hello there!
Ugh this is NOT a resource I really want to know by experience. Know what I mean?
SO sorry you are going through this. So please tell me a bit more. You saw mold / moisture on the wall and said that thankfully a leak occurred. Where was the leak? You turned the water off but the mold was on drywall, correct? What did you do with the mold that was on the wall? Is the household member having symptoms?
I’ll do my best to help. We had HORRID ducts about 5 yrs ago. That’s another story…..
Thank you so much for your generous reply! I’m thankful you use your challenging experiences to help others.
The leak was two fold, both upstairs toilet and upstairs shower. There is an access panel behind upstairs shower, that extends downstairs into basement bathroom. We fixed the toilet leak (simple ring change) and are not using the shower until we can cut the cast iron pipe and switch it to pvc. So there is no more water dripping from either. However the water was dripping occurring on plaster or drywall. The mold was on the not wood surface outside the access panel. Another friend with hard knock mold life experience had recommended some mold wipes for me. I had one taped over that spot for a while. I haven’t done anything else. Another friend recommended spraying a mix of vinegar with tea tree oil on it and wiping down every hour. The downstairs bathroom has a laundry chute to upstairs closet. That’s where the mold spores will grow on any liquid left in there. So that gives me sense the mold is stuck between the upstairs and downstairs areas. I was hesitant to spray on mold so I could have mold company come in and test. But I didn’t schedule that so I am in limbo. Vulnerable family member is not experiencing overt symptoms.
After I saw your last post about ripping up carpet, I low key wanted to do that in my house!! We have tiny bit upstairs hall and downstairs rooms but not near the affected leak.
Do you advise spraying the likely mold areas? Inside the wall chutes area and piping where leak occurred previously are wood beams.
Oh goodness. Hmmmm. What kind of wipe is she recommending? I think that is a bad idea. How big is the moldy area? Drywall loves mold and it’s almost for sure the bad kind (Stachybotrys). Wiping and even spraying can distribute/disturb the spores which isn’t great. I don’t want you to panic but it’s not smart especially if dealing w/ drywall. I’m not a mold professional but drywall that got wet and wasn’t dried out w/in 24 to 48 hours (maybe 24 is best) needs to go and you should remove at least 2 inches outside of that wet area as well. And if it’s a big area you should consider having a good professional do that. There are some DIY options but you should be cautious.
You could spray some of it w/ HOCl or maybe Borax but I would lean towards the HOCl. You can make it yourself with this – wholenewmom.com/fon.
That’s great no big symptoms. You are blessed.
You can swab it yourself and also you could do a petri dish test. How is liquid ending up in the chute? You mean a wet piece of laundry?
Carpet is gross. We just removed stairs and will do 2 more areas. You want to spray with dish soap or dish soapy water or something before/while doing so to prevent the ick going all over the place.
Make sure to have a GOOD plumber do any work for you!
Adrienne, thank you for your quick reply!! I’m relieved to hear my hesitancy to disturb the area without more info is warranted. Here are the wipes:
https://a.co/d/7D5qixz
Thankfully I didn’t scrub the area too much.
Also thanks for affirming the mold is likely that bad kind. That’s what I was thinking too.
So the laundry chute is in an upstairs closet adjacent to the closet where the shower access panel ….and the chute connects the upstairs to the downstairs bathroom where the leak was. There was nothing wet in the closet but since mold spores would grow on liquid left in the closet like my coffee cup, I was guessing it’s mold spores floating around from the leak stuff.
Good to know about the HOCl. Headed over to that post now.
Sounds like a mold remediation company should come over 🙁
Thanks for the recommendation on soapy water spray! Would that be for my DIY plumbing?
Interesting about your carpet. That is a big job but worth it. Would love a post hearing more about what led you down that path!
Of course! I would NEVER wipe mold. That is very bad advice. Gentle spraying maybe but not wiping with this kind of situation.
Got it on the closet. I just added something to this post about mold and Andrea Fabry’s story that I think you should consider for making HOCl. You can spray that gently on the mold while sorting this out.
There are other HOCl links on my site that I need to clean up now due to issues with the company.
I can possibly help with the remediation company.
The carpet wasn’t terrible. It was high pile and about 30 years old. So dirty. The previous homeowner had it cleaned often but that would only lead to more mold. In general carpet is gross. I read a post that claimed that all carpet has mold but when it’s humid it has a lot more. Makes sense to me!
Just ordered the Petri dishes!! With your discount too! thank you
I’m glad you’re taking this step. Depending on results you might want to do a swab test.
Thanks for all your help Adrienne. Your advice has helped me decide to go with indoor air testing by an indoor environmentalist.
In the mean time, do you have preferred brands for binders? Also do you have preferred HoCl brand? I am thinking to start with these while saving money for the bigger costs of home repair and functional med doctor
Hi again and you are so welcome. I know how stressful this all is.
I would go with the Ecolox on my resource page for the HOCl. You only need salt and water to make it yourself. The other one is an option, but they want you to buy their packets and that will cost more money in the long run.
For binders, I really need to do a post about that. I am researching more right now but one good idea is glucomannan and [eafl id="107463" name="Bulk Supplements" text="Bulk Supplements"] has a good price.
I can reach out to you about a fulvic and chitosan directly. I have my own brand of fulvic that I don’t have on my site yet but you can get it from me. It’s clean and reasonably priced. I don’t think there’s a one stop shop for binders. We can talk about it more. I also have my own hydrogen water which can help your body deal with stressors from mold, Lyme, etc. I will reach out about that as well but you can see some details here. Feel free to ask more questions and praying for you now.
Thanks for this informative post, Adrienne. There’s a lot of info in there. Would you be able to recommend a furnace filter type that and air purifier that would help with improving air quality relative to suspected mold or mold spores in our house? Also, how important is duct cleaning? What would you guesstimate the range of cost for duct-cleaning service? Lastly, would duct cleaning and an ionizer install (iWave R) be better than air purifier to start? Thanks for any input you can offer.
Hi Paul – you’re so welcome (note: the post wasn’t originally mine, but I have revised it on and off) and sorry for the delay. A general good recommendation would be a MERV 11, I think. In the case of a house w/ mold the regular filters would be best to toss them monthly or sooner rather than keep a thicker filter in there for longer. I think the best thing to do is some kind of test, however. There are inexpensive ones on this post. That way you have a better picture of what you are dealing with. They aren’t perfect but it’s a help.
Duct cleaning I think is about $300 – $900 depending on the house size. But that’s just based on my experience. My understanding is a furnace filter won’t do that much b/c it’s protecting the furnace and not you, but different people have different thoughts about that.
I guess, if it were me, I would test first and then decide what would make the most sense. If a situation is bad enough, then spending money on duct cleaning and purifiers would not make sense as the work will have to be repeated likely and/or the purifier might have to be thrown out and good ones aren’t cheap.
The purifier vs duct cleaner question is a tough one. I really would prefer to know what is going on in the house before spending money. I know that’s not the most helpful answer but that’s what I’m thinking.
Thank you, Adrienne! Diagnosis first to establish a baseline, then remedies.
Yes, I think that’s best. It sounds like you suspect a significant issue so I would personally get a better idea before potentially throwing money away. That being said, I have heard about personal purifiers being a big help for people in bad situations to have the air output (filtered air) blowing into their space continually but if the mold situation is bad enough, that too would have to be tossed. It’s a tough situation. The petri dish tests linked to in the post are cheap and while not perfect or ideal at all, they’re an inexpensive starting point.
This is great info!!
You are so welcome. I am not an expert, again, so please consider that but hopefully it gives you some places to start.
Found this to be interesting to read. Thank you!
What a thorough article on such an important topic! I’m so sorry this happened to you and I hope so much that things turn around for you very soon. I’m so glad we connected though!! New blogging friends are always a good thing. Cheers!! xoxo – Kristy
Thank you so much, Kristy! I’m so glad to have a new friend as well. Hugs!!! Thanks for the compliment. It wasn’t all my work but I did a lot of adding to it as well b/c I just couldn’t leave well enough alone :).
Hello there. Im thinking of ordering a test for mycotoxins in the home, but what can you do if you have them?
Thanks allot
Hi there – there are lots of options but it can be complicated. If it’s an issue that you can take care of, you can do that but some situations and types of mold are best dealt with by a remediator. You can hire someone or hire an inspector who can help you decide what to do. You can also get air purification set up to help with the situation. Some people (I have done this) fog to buy some time while sorting things out. I have a group on Facebook where you are welcome to post questions as well: https://www.facebook.com/groups/416630345744824/
Do you know the SNP for the HLA-DR? Is it rs9271366 or rs2858331? My report only has HLA on it for each of these and HLA-DRB1 on another.
Thank you!
Hi there. I am sorry but I do not. This is new territory for me. Is there a good reference place for this information?
I see this on a chart: DRB1*15:01 rs9271366 does that help?