The Mold Toxin Debate: Science vs. Skepticism

While the conventional world of medicine continue to deny the effects of mold toxins on our human health, articles like today’s remind us that conventional medicine is not always reading the research. Obafemi et al lays out the details of what we know about fumonisin B1 neurotoxicity with references to multiple studies and explanations of mechanisms. Despite such solid proof, your average medical provider in the system will dismiss many patients’ symptoms and look for any explanation besides mold toxin exposure.

I can agree with those uninformed medical colleagues that we are surrounded by mold in both our environments and our food supply. Where I don’t agree is about the common use of this fact as an excuse, arguing that because others similarly exposed aren’t sick, that mold can’t be the reason. They ignore two critical points. First, not all mold makes toxins. Many molds just sit around decomposing organic material in your yards. Second, sensitivity varies: 20 to 25% of the population are far more sensitive to the toxic effects, leaving most relatively unaffected. Just like not everyone who smokes gets lung cancer, not everyone who is around the mold in a given home or workplace will have effects from the exposure.

Beyond these commonsense principles of why some are sick from mold and some are not, we have basic science to support the adverse effects of mold toxins on human health. For instance, this article provides evidence to help force the toxin deniers to rethink their opinions.

Its authors focus on what they consider the most toxic fumonisins, the subtype labeled B1. Fumonisins are a group of chemicals produced by a particular genus of mold called Fusarium. Out of the 28 forms isolated so far, this B1 form is both more common and more toxic that the others.

This multibranched chemical made from carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen can wreak havoc in multiple body systems. The authors focus on its effects in the nervous system but pause to mention its other adverse effects. Citations of other research indicting liver toxicity, kidney toxicity, and immune toxicity can be found in the reference section. Before looking at their research, they review prior studies linking the mycotoxin with neural tube defects, nerve degeneration, adverse neurodevelopment outcomes, astrocytes dysfunction, and other problems.

The authors mention several mechanisms of fumonisin toxicity such as reactive oxygen species, direct DNA damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, and increased apoptosis (programmed cell death), but focus on fumonisin B1’s disruption of ceramide production in the brain. These ceramide fats are critical for brain health and function. The disruption likely depends on the fact that fumonisin B1 resembles the substrates that the ceramide producing enzyme uses as building blocks. The downstream effects of decreased ceramide likely contribute to clinical effects. The article goes into more details on these clinical effects towards the end.

In helping our mold toxic patients overcome their symptoms, we first acknowledge the cause of their condition. Denying that fumonisins or other mold toxins are causing their disease keeps them from escaping mold’s grip. We want them to live healthier, more abundant lives without the limitations of mold toxicity through avoidance and detoxification so their brains and other body systems can function how God designed them to.

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Original Article:

Obafemi BA, Adedara IA, Delgado CP, Obafemi OT, Aschner M, Rocha JBT. Fumonisin B1 neurotoxicity: Preclinical evidence, biochemical mechanisms and therapeutic strategies. Toxicol Rep. 2025;14:101931. Published 2025 Jan 27. doi:10.1016/j.toxrep.2025.101931

Accessed April 16, 2025.