Inhaled Mycotoxins and Testing: What Patients Need to Know

Many patients ask about mould, mycotoxins, and private test panels — especially when symptoms overlap with conditions like aspergillosis, asthma, or MCAS (see glossary). The science is complex, and there’s a lot of misinformation online. Here’s what we know.

Can inhaled mycotoxins cause illness?

• High exposure at work: In farming, animal feed, waste handling, or recycling, workers can breathe in dusts that contain fungal fragments and mycotoxins. At these levels, people may develop work-related asthma, cough, or “organic dust toxic syndrome.”

• Homes and offices: Damp and mouldy buildings are consistently linked to worse asthma and respiratory symptoms. But experts (WHO, Institute of Medicine, CDC, MHRA) stress that it’s not just mycotoxins — spores, allergens, β-glucans, and bacteria all play a role.

• Bottom line: Dampness and mould are unhealthy, but there’s limited proof that airborne mycotoxins alone at household levels cause chronic illness. The key intervention is always fixing damp and mould, improving ventilation, and managing lung conditions properly.

Why are private mycotoxin tests offered?

Despite the limited evidence, urine and blood “mycotoxin panels” are marketed by private labs (often in the US). They detect tiny traces of toxins that almost everyone has — mostly from food.

Why they exist:

• People with real symptoms want answers, and commercial labs meet that demand.

• It is technically possible to measure mycotoxins, even if the meaning is unclear.

• Some alternative practitioners use them because patients want something tangible.

Why are these tests unreliable?

1. Everyone has some exposure – Sensitive tests will almost always find traces from normal diet, even in healthy people.

2. No agreed cut-offs – No international standards for what level in blood/urine is “safe” or “unsafe.”

3. Not validated for diagnosis – NHS, WHO, CDC, EMA do not accept these tests as diagnostic.

4. Can’t show source – They can’t distinguish whether the toxin came from food, dust, or infection.

5. Risk of unnecessary treatment – May push people toward costly, unproven therapies.

👉 Bottom line: A positive result usually reflects diet, not disease. That’s why NHS doctors don’t use these tests.

Why validation matters

For any medical test to be trusted, it must go through validation:

1. Analytical validation – does the test reliably measure what it claims?

2. Clinical validation – does it correctly identify people with the disease and exclude those without it?

3. Clinical utility – does it actually help doctors make better treatment decisions?

4. Regulatory approval – bodies like the MHRA (UK), FDA (US), and EMA (EU) ensure tests are safe and meaningful before routine use.

Without validation, a test can give results that look scientific but don’t guide care. That’s why the NHS doesn’t accept mycotoxin blood or urine testing — they haven’t been shown to make diagnoses more accurate or treatments more effective.

What if your mycotoxin test is positive, but you don’t live in a damp home?

This is very common.

• Food is the main source: Mycotoxins are often found in grains, nuts, coffee, and dried fruit.

• Exposure ≠ illness: A positive only shows contact, not harm.

• No NHS role: Since the tests can’t separate harmless from harmful exposure, they aren’t used.

• What matters most: If you’re unwell, validated NHS tests (CT scans, Aspergillus IgE/IgG, sputum cultures) guide proper diagnosis and treatment.

Foods that can contain mycotoxins

• Aflatoxins – peanuts, maize, tree nuts, dried fruit, spices.

• Ochratoxin A – coffee, dried fruit, wine, cereals.

• Fumonisins, zearalenone, DON – maize, wheat, cereals.

• Patulin – apples and apple juice.

• Gliotoxin – made by Aspergillus fumigatus; occasionally found in mouldy cereals/silage, but mainly important when produced inside the body during invasive aspergillosis.

👉 In the UK/EU, foods are routinely monitored and regulated to keep levels very low.

What this means for patients

• If you have aspergillosis or asthma, mould can worsen symptoms — but NHS doctors use validated tests, not private toxin panels.

• If you feel unwell in a mouldy home, focus on fixing damp and talking to your GP or specialist.

• A positive mycotoxin test without damp exposure almost always reflects normal diet.

• Be cautious about spending money on unvalidated tests, which don’t change safe NHS treatment.

💙 Key message: Damp and mould can harm health, and sometimes mycotoxins are part of that story. But unvalidated mycotoxin blood/urine tests are unreliable and not used by the NHS. The safest approach is to fix damp, protect your lungs, and rely on NHS-approved diagnostics and treatments.

Glossary of Terms

• WHO – World Health Organization, the UN’s global health authority.

• CDC – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the main US public health body.

• EMA – European Medicines Agency, which regulates medicines across the European Union.

• MHRA – Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the UK body that regulates medicines and devices.

• NHS – National Health Service, the publicly funded health system in the UK.

• IgE / IgG – Immunoglobulin E and Immunoglobulin G, types of antibodies measured in blood tests to check for allergy or immune response.

• CT scan – Computed Tomography scan, a detailed type of X-ray that shows cross-sections of the body.

• MCAS – Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, a condition where mast cells release too many chemicals, causing allergic-type symptoms.

• ABPA – Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis, an allergic lung condition caused by reaction to Aspergillus.

• CPA – Chronic Pulmonary Aspergillosis, a long-term fungal infection of the lungs caused by Aspergillus.