Mold

The cancer connection for mold should be framed carefully. The strongest human evidence concerns mycotoxins, not simply visible household mold. Aflatoxins are produced mainly by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus on crops such as corn, peanuts, cottonseed, and tree nuts. The National Cancer Institute states that aflatoxin exposure is associated with increased liver cancer risk, and IARC classifies key mycotoxins through its carcinogen review program. Risk is highest with chronic dietary exposure and is amplified in populations with hepatitis B infection. Other mold-related food toxins, including fumonisins and ochratoxin A, have mechanistic, animal, occupational, or limited human evidence that keeps them relevant to cancer-risk review, especially for esophageal, liver, kidney, and urinary-tract questions.\n\nIndoor mold in damp buildings is a different evidence category. Dampness and mold exposure are consistently associated with asthma, respiratory symptoms, allergies, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and opportunistic mold infections in susceptible or immunocompromised people. However, the WHO indoor-air review states that heavy occupational inhalation exposure to mycotoxins in moldy grain may be linked to increased cancer risk, while there is no epidemiological evidence for an association between damp-building exposure and cancer. This cause should therefore distinguish food/occupational mycotoxin exposure from ordinary indoor mold exposure, while still treating remediation and moisture control as important health-protection measures.