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Mold and Human Health: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff

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Abstract

The term “mold” is utilized to define the ubiquitous fungal species commonly found in household dust and observed as visible multicellular filaments. Several well-defined human diseases are known to be caused or exacerbated by mold or by exposure to their byproducts. Among these, a solid connection has been established with infections, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, allergic fungal rhinosinusitis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and asthma. In the past decades, other less-defined and generally false conditions have also been ascribed to mold. We will herein review and critically discuss the available evidence on the influence of mold on human health.

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Disclosure

M. Eric Gershwin has served as a medical/legal expert for both plaintiff and defense in environmental illness issues.

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  1. Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, University of California at Davis School of Medicine, Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility, 451 Health Sciences Drive, Suite 6510, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    H. David Pettigrew, Carlo F. Selmi, Suzanne S. Teuber & M. Eric Gershwin

  2. Department of Translational Medicine, IRCCS-Istituto Clinico Humanitas, Università degli Studi di Milano, Rozzano, Italy

    Carlo F. Selmi

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  1. H. David Pettigrew
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Pettigrew, H.D., Selmi, C.F., Teuber, S.S. et al. Mold and Human Health: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff. Clinic Rev Allerg Immunol 38, 148–155 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12016-009-8175-5

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