People with and without mold allergies can experience adverse health symptoms from black mold, although not toxic effects. According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), while Strachybotrys chartarum and other fungi produce toxins, they generally cannot be inhaled in large enough concentrations to poison people.
Indoor mold exposure, however, does cause allergic rhinitis and more serious respiratory effects in some people. Infested environments may include humid bathrooms, flood-damaged buildings, or work sites that store hay, yeast or other organic substances that contain or sustain mold growths.
Inflammatory
Inflammatory health symptoms arise in response to antibodies and histamines that the body sends into the bloodstream during allergic reactions to black mold. Elevated histamine levels cause itching in the eyes, nose or throat, the Mayo Clinic reports. Swelling in these areas can affect skin tissue and the airways, creating puffy eyelids and congestion in the nose, throat and sinuses. OSHA reports that direct mold exposure through touch can inflame the skin, creating painful or itchy rashes.
Mucous
Histamine release caused by black mold exposure also causes fluid to migrate to specific mucous membranes, which patients will recognize as the common health symptoms of allergic rhinitis. The Mayo Clinic notes that eye and nose membranes accumulate fluid, as evidenced by teary eyes and runny noses. Postnasal drip occurs when mucus backs up in the nasal and sinus passages and drains down the throat, which may cause irritation in some patients.
Cough
An itchy, sore throat and postnasal drip can trigger the coughing reflex. Coughing also acts as the body's means of counteracting mold effects by ejecting allergens along with excess mucus. According to the Cleveland Clinic, sneezing, another health effect of black mold exposure, serves the same purpose.
The Mayo Clinic includes coughing among symptoms that anyone who lives or works in a moldy environment can have. A persistent cough with bloody mucus or accompanied by a fever, however, may indicate allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, a serious fungal infection of the lungs or sinuses. Individuals with immune system suppression, such as cancer or HIV patients, most commonly experience these conditions.
Asthma
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, besides rhinitis and inflammatory symptoms, people with asthma can develop sudden asthma health symptoms from breathing in mold spores. Coughing, wheezing, chest tightness and shortness of breath can create life-threatening breathing restrictions.
Individuals who have other lung diseases may also experience these breathing problems, OSHA adds. When asthmatic symptoms appear after weeks, months or years of mold inhalation, they may indicate hypersensitivity pneumonitis, or chronic degradation of the alveoli that hampers lung function.
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