Testing for biotoxin illness
Although it is helpful to test the home environment for mold contamination, it is entirely possible for exposure to come from somewhere other than home. The best way to determine if you are dealing with mold exposure in any of your common environments is to test your body. Mold can grow on (finger and toenail fungus, skin problems) and in (thrush, ear infections, sinusitis, etc) the body. These are signs that the immune system is fighting and not winning!
It is important to consider any environment you frequent: offices, schools, gyms, libraries, stores, family homes, caregiver homes, boats, RVs and so on. If your home testing isn’t conclusive, but you suspect mold illness, or at least want to rule it out as a contributing factor to health problems, testing the body would be ideal.
Consider testing that includes:
Comprehensive panel of blood antibodies like IgG and IgA for different species of molds
GI tract - which would look like mold or yeast overgrowth since yeast and mold are essentially the same thing
Nasal culture - especially in humid climates where sinus problems are an issue
Mold toxin excretions from the body - including urine and blood
It’s estimated that 25% of the population has a genetic predisposition to mold sensitivity due to an inability to eliminate mold toxins. If you’d like to learn more about genetic testing for mold sensitivity, this article from Avoiding Mold should help you.
Mycotoxin testing by Great Plains Lab
Mycotoxins are the chemicals released by mold spores. You can either breath them in through contaminated air or they can be in your body from mold overgrowth occurring within the body, as well as from eating foods that are high in mold.
This test will tell you which strains of mold are contributing to your mold illness, which is helpful when an ERMI or HERTSMI test confirms the same spores, indicating that the environment is contaminated. GPL-MycoTOX screens for 11 different mycotoxins, from 40 species of mold, in one urine sample, is the most comprehensive and competitively priced mycotoxin test, uses the power of advanced mass spectrometry (MS/MS), which is necessary to detect lower levels of these fungal toxins. It is often recommended to also do an OAT (organic Acid Test) by Great Plains which is complimentary to the mycotoxin test. With the OAT you will be able to determine if certain molds are colonizing in the gut and if mold could be contributing to an oxalate accumulation problem, among other things.
If you don’t have a doctor to order your test, this is a direct-order website where you can access Great Plains Labs Mycotoxins profile, which is a urine test. You can read more about the report and it’s results here.
NOTE: This test is not available to residents of New York, Rhode Island or Maryland. Any orders originating from these states will automatically be canceled. Any samples originating from these states will be discarded.
Surviving Mold - list of CONVENTIONAL labs
Dr. Shoemaker was the original pioneer in mold biotoxin illness and recovery. He offers a list of many conventional labs that help with the investigation of mold testing. I would recommend finding a doctor who is trained in interpreting these labs, which can also be found on his website and via word of mouth.
