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Health effects of mold in children

James M Seltzer1, Marion J Fedoruk

  • 1Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, 5201 California Avenue, Suite 100, Irvine, CA 92617, USA. jseltzer@uci.edu

Pediatric Clinics of North America
|April 24, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Mold exposure is unavoidable and can cause health issues through hypersensitivity, toxicity, infection, and irritation. This review focuses on established adverse health outcomes linked to mold exposure.

Area of Science:

  • Environmental Health
  • Toxicology
  • Immunology

Background:

  • Mold is a ubiquitous environmental microorganism.
  • Exposure to mold and its metabolites is unavoidable for humans.
  • Mold exposure is associated with various adverse health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review adverse health outcomes associated with mold exposure.
  • To focus on outcomes with scientifically validated pathophysiologic mechanisms.
  • To discuss established associations between mold and health.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of scientific articles.
  • Analysis of pathophysiologic mechanisms of mold-induced injury.
  • Focus on validated associations between mold exposure and health outcomes.

Main Results:

  • Mold exposure can lead to adverse health outcomes via four mechanisms: hypersensitivity, toxicity, infection, and irritation.
  • Some attributed health outcomes lack well-defined or plausible mechanisms.
  • The review prioritizes health outcomes with established scientific evidence.

Conclusions:

  • Mold exposure presents a significant environmental health concern.
  • Understanding the mechanisms of mold toxicity is crucial for public health.
  • Further research should focus on scientifically validated mold-health associations.

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