Trend talk. (Industry Insider--In the Loop Business News).

Much of the concern about so-called "toxic" mold has been dispelled by a recent authoritative government study. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has published an article in the prestigious American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal reporting on a comprehensive literature search of articles associating health effects with exposures to mold toxins, also known as mycotoxins. (E.H. Page and D.B. Trout, The Role of Stachybotrys Mycotoxins in Building Related Illness, 62 AIHAJ 644 Sept. /Oct. 2001). NIOSH concluded, "that exposure to mycotoxins in the indoor (nonindustrial) environment is casually related to symptoms or illness among building occupants.

NIOSH noted that "recommendations for the remediation of buildings have been based in part on the reported association of various health effects with exposure to toxins." In order to examine whether there was a scientific basis for the concern about "toxic" mold, NIOSH exhaustively searched the available medical and scientific literature and reviewed all research reports associating health effects with exposures to fungal toxins in the indoor (nonindustrial) environment. While confirming that mold can produce both toxins and volatile organic chemicals, NIOSH noted that "human exposure to mold is ubiquitous." Many molds produce mycotoxins and there are more than 300 known mycotoxins. Toxins associated with the stachybotrys species have received the most attention, but molds produce many different types of mycotoxins. The NIOSH literature review noted that, while a "wide spectrum of health effects" have been attributed to mycotoxins, "[case definitions are generally absent or poorly defined." NIOSH also noted that the case reports did not describe mycotoxin in exposures very well, in part because of inadequacies in measuring specific mycotoxin exposures.

After concluding its review, NIOSH found that more research is "needed before a definitive link between health outcomes and mycotoxins can be made." Id. at 647. NIOSH reiterated that remediation of fungus-contaminated environments is appropriate to reduce known health effects of fungal exposures (such as allergic rhinitis) but cautioned "there is inadequate evidence to support recommendations for greater urgency in cases where mycotoxin-producing fungi have been isolated."