Mould Toxins More Prevalent And Hazardous Than Thought

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November 4, 2008

Mould Toxins More Prevalent And Hazardous Than Thought

by sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (Dec. 9, 2008) — Mould toxins in buildings damaged by moisture

are considerably more prevalent than was previously thought, according to new

international research. a Bloom from the Division of Medical

Microbiology at Lund University in Sweden has contributed to research in this

field by

analyzing dust and materials samples from buildings damaged by mould.

Virtually all of the samples contained toxins from mould.

“Previously it was claimed that the occurrence of mould does not necessarily

mean that there are toxins present. But they are! On the contrary, we can

assume that wherever there is visible mould, there are also mould toxins,â€

says

a Bloom.

And toxins produced by mould are more potent than was previously thought. It

has now been shown, for instance, that mould toxins (mycotoxins) not only

directly kill cells but can also affect immune cells in a way that increases

the risk of allergies. Even incredibly tiny amounts of these toxins can do

this, as little as a few picograms (a picogram is one millionth of a millionth

of

a gram).

New research also shows that mould releases extremely small particles that

remain suspended in the air, and can get into our lungs much more easily than

the spores that have previously been focused on. This can increase exposure

to mould and mycotoxins hundreds of times over compared with previous

calculations. And mycotoxins have further been shown in laboratory studies to

have a

synergistic effect: the effect of two toxins is not merely 1 + 1 but much

greater.

Using methods from analytical chemistry, a Bloom analyzed dust sample

and samples from construction materials such as molding, drywall, and wallpaper

from buildings damaged by mould. She acquired nearly all of the samples from

professional damage assessors.

“We looked at 6-7 different mycotoxins and found them in a majority of the

samples. And since there are at least 400 sorts of mycotoxins, what we have

seen is probably just the tip of the iceberg,†she says.

Mould in buildings is a phenomenon that has been known since the times of

the Old Testament. In Leviticus mention is made of spots that constitute “a

fretting leprosy in the house,†and should be scraped off and thrown away

“in

some unclean place.â€

“Actually, we haven’t made all that much progress today,†maintains a

Bloom. “We know that people are sickened by buildings damaged by moisture,

but

whether this is primarily caused by mycotoxins, bacteria, or gases given off

by the moist building materials, this we don’t know exactly. We should

therefore observe the principle of caution and renovate the building as soon as

a

moisture problem or mould is found.â€

After she defends her thesis on December 6, a Bloom will start working

with indoor-environment issues at the IVL, the Swedish Environmental Research

Institute. Her thesis director, Lennart Larsson, is continuing his research

with the Lund team, for example participating in a major EU project on indoor

environments in schools and their possible connections to asthma and

allergies.

_http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081209085622.htm_

(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081209085622.htm)

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