Recently there have been some claims about a “toxic mold” epidemic on social media. While indoor mold is never a good thing, this claim probably doesn’t hold much weight.
What is mold in the environment?
Mold is a naturally occurring living organism [archived link] that can be found anywhere there is oxygen and moisture. Molds are a kind of “fungi”. They tend to live in soil, plants, and dead or decaying matter. In the wild, mold helps break down dead materials and debris and plays an important part in the ecosystem.
What are the potential health impacts of moldy environments?
Indoors, the situation is a bit more tricky. Indoor mold growth can cause runny nose, sneezing, headache, dizziness, and, in some cases, asthma attacks. Some types of mold (not all) produce toxins that can be harmful to human health. Bear in mind, of course, that for mold to cause asthma attacks, there needs to be a predisposition to this outcome, namely by having asthma in the first place. This brings up an important principle in environmental health – not all exposures are equally dangerous to all people. Vulnerabilities and preexisting conditions make an enormous difference in determining what to avoid and what might be less harmful. Young children, older adults, and those with preexisting lung conditions are more vulnerable to health effects of mold exposure. Low-income populations are also often more vulnerable to mold exposure and mold-related illness: people living in poor housing conditions are more likely to encounter indoor mold, and predisposing lung conditions are more present in low-income populations. Needless to say, unlike outdoor mold growth, indoor mold growth serves no positive environmental purpose and can be harmful in some cases, including to human health.
What do people mean when they say “toxic mold”?
Lately, especially on TikTok and other social media channels, this concept of “toxic mold” has arisen with lots of fanfare. A recent article in The Cut examined the stories of several people who say their lives have been upended by toxic mold, including Taylor Gonzales, a 29-year-old former college athlete, who now takes 3 types of nasal spray, an anti-fungal called Nystatin, and a drug for high cholesterol called cholestyramine, all to control her sense that her brain and body have been overtaken by toxic mold. The TikTok trend #toxicmoldillness is alive and well. Meanwhile, mold has been named by the current administration as a potential toxin contributing to the development of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
The relationship between mold exposure and the type of symptoms discussed in The Cut article has been extremely difficult to establish due to lack of comparison groups, reliance on self-reported symptoms, and unvalidated measures of mycotoxin exposure. Reliance on self-reported symptoms is especially problematic, as people with a preexisting belief that mold exposure is affecting their health might report more symptoms. We also just don’t know what the threshold is for too much mold. The world of engineering hasn’t figured out how wet is “too wet” for a building. So there are a lot of unanswered questions.
There’s no doubt that indoor mold can cause health problems. But we need to be thoughtful in the way we think about our symptoms and explore all possibilities before jumping to conclusions. And we do need to be careful about expensive tests, like those for “toxic mold illness,” that may not yield much that’s meaningful.
Bottom Line: Should you be scared?
There are lots of things to be scared of in this world! Be reasonable about ensuring your home doesn’t have excessive amounts of mold lying around, but we don’t recommend lying awake at night obsessing about whether there could be “toxic” mold sneaking around somewhere undetected. The anxiety from speculation just probably isn’t worth it.
Stay well, stay informed, stay engaged!
Love,
Those Nerdy Girls
