Re: Black Mold Article

[Guest guest]

D: Mycotoxins are excreted from live-celled micro fungi as chemistry. As Dr.

A.V. Costantini, M.D., explains:

The study of potentially dangerous mycotoxin poisoning in humans is not new to

the science community. A.V. Costantini, M.D. (retired), is the former head of

the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Mycotoxins in Food

(Department of Clinical Chemistry, School of Medicine, Albert Ludwigs

University, Freiburg, Germany), and member of the Clinical Professional Faculty

(retired) University of California, School of Medicine, San Francisco. In his

Fungalbionic© series of books on microfungi and disease Dr. Costantini states:

“In the 1930s and 1940s, as many as 1,000 compounds, classifiable as mycotoxins,

were studied by the pharmacology industry as potential antibiotics only to be

discarded as being too toxic for higher life forms to be of value in treating

bacterial diseases in humans. Little, if any of the discarded data was

published. Yet, what these toxicity studies actually documented was the

existence of a large number of fungal-derived toxins, which caused serious

target organ injury in a variety of animal models. Obviously, in retrospect,

what was being seen was the pathology produced by the mycotoxins. In order to

understand this toxicity, one only has to look at what some of these mycotoxins

used as medications, cause in humans.”

One such mycotoxin product known to cause death and severe health problems in

humans at high amounts, referred to as Oxalic acid. In his article,

“Decomposition of Oxalate by Microorganisms,” Professor N. Sahin, Mugla

University, Turkey (1997) reports:

“Accumulation of oxalate by fungi (microfungi), particularly in Aspergillus,

Penicillium and Mucor species is of such an order that these fungi could be used

for industrial fermentation for oxalate… At high concentrations, oxalic acid

causes death in humans and animals due to its corrosive effects. In smaller

amounts, oxalic acid causes a variety of pathological disorders, including

hyperoxaluria, pyridoxine deficiency, cardiomyopathy, cardiac conductance

disorders, calcium oxalate stones and renal failure.”

Noted environmental researcher Harriet Ammann, Ph.D., D.A.B.T., a Sr.

Toxicologist with the State of Washington, explains in her article about

cytotoxic microfungi and their secondary mycotoxins, “Is Indoor Microfungi

Contamination a Threat to Health?” (Ammann, 2001)

“Mycotoxins… are not essential to maintaining the life of the mold cell in a

primary way (at least in a friendly world), such as obtaining energy or

synthesizing structural components, informational molecules or enzymes. They are

products whose function seems to be to give molds a competitive advantage over

other mold species and bacteria. Mycotoxins are nearly all cytotoxic,

disrupting various cellular structures such as membranes, and interfering with

vital cellular processes such as protein, RNA and DNA synthesis. Of course they

are also toxic to the cells of higher plants and animals, including humans.

Mycotoxins vary in specificity and potency for their target cells, cell

structures or cell processes by species and strain of the mold that produces

them. Higher organisms are not specifically targeted by mycotoxins, but seem to

be caught in the crossfire of the biochemical warfare among mold species and

molds and bacteria vying for the same ecological niche.”

Definition of Toxin

Toxin: One of a number of poisons produced by certain plants, animals, and

bacteria.

The term " toxin " is frequently used to refer specifically to a particular

protein produced by some higher plants, animals and pathogenic (disease-causing)

bacteria. A toxin typically has a high molecular weight (as compared to a simple

chemical poison), is antigenic (elicits an antibody response), and is highly

poisonous to living creatures.

The word " toxin " comes from the Greek " toxikon " = arrow poison and was

introduced to medicine in 1888 by the Berlin physician Ludwig Brieger

(1849-1909) as a name for poisons made by infectious agents.

(Source: http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=5828)

Proteins: A molecule composed of amino acids linked together in a particular

order specified by a gene's DNA sequence. Proteins perform a wide variety of

functions in the cell; these include serving as enzymes, structural components,

or signaling molecules.(Source: www.hhmi.org/genetictrail/glossary.html)

Toxic Substance: any chemical product applied on the surface of or incorporated

into any structural or decorative material, or any other chemical, biologic, or

....(Source: www.cdc.gov/nceh/publications/books/housing/definitions.htm)

Compound: A substance containing two or more elements chemically combined; eg

the compound water (H2O) containing two elements; hydrogen and oxygen.(Source:

courses.dsu.edu/eled453/South%20Dakota%20Glossary%20Terms%20for%20Science%20K.do\

c)

I hope this helps you in an educational perspective.

Have a blessed day,

Doug Haney

Environmental-Health Projects: Research & Consulting

Email: _Haney52@...

Doug Haney

@...: dianebolton@...: Thu, 7 Aug

2008 18:37:52 +0000Subject: [] Black Mold Article

Hi Folks: I read this article with interest as it is from my home state of NH. I

had a question about something she said there. She states that mycotoxins are a

" chemical " . Can someone explain that to me? Thanks- D

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[Guest guest]

In a sense, everything that is made of matter " is a chemical " ..

Really, these words are often deceptive..

Marketers love to use vague words like " natural " for example..

BUT, a chemist will cheerfully explain that all chemicals are in a

sense, " natural " because they are part of nature..

Even we are part of Nature.. so everything we make is too, SORT OF..

I don't agree with that definition, necessarily, but I wanted to

explain how ridiculous commercial speech often is.

Its like having a preference for herbs over synthetics.. often that

doesn't make sense, but, its marketing..

BTW, herb processing plants are often LOADED with mold...and

mycotoxins, Ive read papers on that..

[Guest guest]

They are considered natural chemical as opposed to man made chemical

From: dianebolton52 <dianebolton@...>

Subject: [] Black Mold Article

Date: Thursday, August 7, 2008, 10:37 AM

Hi Folks: I read this article with interest as it is from my home

state

of NH. I had a question about something she said there. She states that

mycotoxins are a " chemical " . Can someone explain that to me? Thanks- D