The conidia (spores) produced by Stachybotrys species are not commonly found in the air of buildings that have been found to contain significant interior growth of this organism

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This paper shows why people in sick buildings with stachybotrys in the

present or past history get sick from that stachybotrys without stachybotrys

spores being seen there.:

Mycopathologia. 2004 Jul;158(1):87-97.

Protein translation inhibition by Stachybotrys chartarum conidia with and

without the mycotoxin containing polysaccharide matrix.

Karunasena E, Cooley JD, Straus D, Straus DC.

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Texas Tech University Health

Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA.

Recent studies have correlated the presence of Stachybotrys chartarum in

structures with SBS. S. chartarum produces mycotoxins that are thought to

produce some of the symptoms reported in sick-building syndrome (SBS).

The conidia (spores) produced by Stachybotrys species are not commonly found

in the air of buildings that have been found to contain significant interior

growth of this organism. This could be due in part to the large size of the

Stachybotrys spores, or the organism growing in hidden areas such as wall

cavities. However, individuals in buildings with significant Stachybotrys

growth frequently display symptoms that may be attributed to exposure to the

organism's mycotoxins.

In addition, Stachybotrys colonies produce a " slime " or polysaccharide

(carbohydrate) matrix that coats the hyphae and the spores. The intent of

this project was to determine whether the carbohydrate matrix and the

mycotoxins embedded in it could be removed from the spores by repeated

washings with either aqueous or organic solvents. The results demonstrated

that the process of spore washing removed compounds that were toxic in a

protein translation assay as compared to spores that were washed with an

organic solution, however a correlation between carbohydrate removal during

the washing process and the removal of mycotoxins from the spore surface was

not observed. These data demonstrated that mycotoxins are not likely to be

found exclusively in the carbohydrate matrix of the spores. Therefore,

mycotoxin removal from the spore surface can occur without significant loss

of polysaccharide. We also showed that toxic substances may be removed from

the spore surface with an aqueous solution. These results suggest that

satratoxins are soluble in aqueous solutions without being bound to

water-soluble moieties, such as the carbohydrate slime matrix.

PMID: 15487326 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]