Mold Toxicity Testing and Diagnosis | Mycotoxin Test Doctor
Most people with mold toxicity have already had standard blood work done. It came back normal. Their doctor told them nothing was wrong.
Standard labs do not test for mold toxicity. They are not designed to. If mold is driving your symptoms, it will not show up on a basic blood panel.
I order and interpret the specialized testing required to actually identify mold toxicity, CIRS, and mycotoxin illness, and I use those results to build a treatment plan that addresses what is actually happening in your body.
Licensed Naturopathic Physician | Specialized Mold Toxicity Testing
✔ Telehealth for Oregon and Colorado
✔ Most Testing Done from Home
Why Standard Testing Misses Mold Toxicity
A standard CBC, metabolic panel, thyroid panel, or hormone panel will not identify mycotoxin accumulation, CIRS related immune dysregulation, or the downstream hormonal and inflammatory effects of mold toxicity.
This is why so many mold toxicity patients spend years being told their results are normal or treating the symptoms while their health continues to decline. The right answers require the right tests.
Conventional medicine uses standard panels designed to detect common conditions. Mold toxicity is not on that list.
Mold Toxicity Tests I Use
Mycotoxin Antibody Testing
The mycotoxin antibody test is a blood test, and identifies the body’s current immune response to 14 different mycotoxins.
It is currently my preferred way to assess body burden of mycotoxins, which mycotoxins the body is dealing with, whether the exposure is current or from the past, and whether fungal colonization is a likely contributor.
It gives us significantly more information than a urine mycotoxin test, which cannot distinguish current vs. past exposure, or give any clues as to whether the toxins are coming from an internal source (colonization) or the external environment or is just a really good detoxifier.
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It also does not seem to have the inaccuracies so common with urine mycotoxin tests, which can be falsely negative if someone is a poor detoxifier (usually the sickest people are), or falsely positive if someone is ingesting a lot of mycotoxins in their diet.
The mycotoxin antibody test correlates better with true mycotoxin illness.
Different mycotoxins are produced by different mold species. Knowing which mycotoxins are present helps guide binder selection, detox pathways support, and treatment priorities. See Mold Detox Protocol and Binders for how test results inform the detox protocol.
Mycotoxin Urine Test
The mycotoxin urine test identifies specific mycotoxins being excreted by the body. It is one of the most direct ways to confirm that mycotoxin exposure has occurred. This is my favorite way to test for mycotoxin illness in children since it is less invasive than a blood test.
When doing urine mycotoxin testing, I use Real Time Labs.
Mold Antibody Blood Test
Blood testing for mold antibodies can assess immune reactivity to specific mold species. This is different from the mycotoxin antibody and urine tests and provides complementary information about how your immune system is responding to mold spores in particular. It can also be used as an indicator of fungal colonization in combination with symptoms, mycotoxin antibody testing, and sometimes imaging of the sinuses or lungs.
Visual Contrast Sensitivity Test
The VCS test is a simple visual assessment that measures the brain's ability to detect contrast at low light levels. Biotoxin illness (including mycotoxin illness) reliably impairs this function. It is a low cost, non-invasive screening tool that, in the right clinical context, is a strong indicator that biotoxin illness is present.
A failed VCS test combined with the right symptom picture and exposure history is a significant red flag for CIRS or mold toxicity.
CIRS Testing Panel
For patients where CIRS is suspected, I can order a full CIRS panel that assesses the specific immune, inflammatory, and hormonal markers that are dysregulated in Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome.
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This typically includes markers such as MMP-9, TGF-beta1, MSH, VIP, C4a, ACTH, cortisol, ADH, osmolality, VEGF, and HLA-DR genetic typing. These are not standard labs. They require a doctor familiar with CIRS to order and interpret correctly.
See CIRS Treatment for how these results guide CIRS treatment.
Organic Acids Testing
Organic acids testing provides a broad picture of fungal and bacterial overgrowth, metabolic function, mitochondrial health, gut microbiome status, and nutrient deficiencies. It is a useful part of the picture for patients with complex chronic illness where mold toxicity has caused widespread systemic disruption.
Comprehensive Gut Testing
Given the significant impact of mold toxicity on the gut microbiome and gut lining, comprehensive stool testing helps identify dysbiosis, fungal overgrowth, inflammatory markers, and digestive function. This guides the gut repair component of treatment.
Intracellular Nutrient Testing
Mold illness, because of how intensely it can stress the body and disrupt the gut, tends to lead to a broad array of nutrient deficiencies. For the body to detoxify, fight infections, rebalance the microbiome, calm inflammation, and repair effectively, we need optimal nutrient levels.
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Most blood tests do a very poor job of assessing nutrient status because they’re just testing nutrient levels in the blood at one time point. The thing is, nutrient levels in the blood fluctuate wildly and rapidly with what we eat. That’s why I use intracellular nutrient testing. It assesses whether your cells have the nutrient levels necessary to actually function normally and reproduce. This is the metric that actually matter to your recovery.
Standard Labs with a Mold Literate Lens
Standard labs including full blood count, metabolic panel, thyroid, hormones, inflammatory markers, and nutrient levels are still part of the picture. The difference is interpreting them through the lens of mold toxicity and understanding what patterns of results commonly appear in mold illness patients, even when individual markers fall within standard reference ranges.
A Different Approach to Mold Illness and Chronic Illness Recovery
Identifying the source of mold exposure is part of the diagnostic process. Body testing tells us what is happening inside you. Environmental testing tells us where it is coming from.
ERMI Testing
The Environmental Relative Moldiness Index is a DNA based test that analyzes settled dust in your home or workplace for the presence and concentration of mold species. It is more sensitive than air testing for mold and identifies mold species associated with water damage that may not be visible or detectable by smell.
Environmental Mycotoxin Testing
I often use mycotoxin testing of the environment we’re concerned about in addition to ERMI testing. That’s because some mold spores, that are big and heavy, don’t always show up in large quantities on an ERMI, even if they’re present at high levels in the home.
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This is often the case when the mold is growing inside of a wall or under a floor. The mold spore is too big to get through the wall to the area where you’re collecting dust, so it shows up in only low numbers on the ERMI test.
Mycotoxins on the other hand, which are the primary driver of mold-induced illness, pass right through most building materials and into the area you breathe and the dust you can sample for testing. So sometimes we find the dreaded black mold in low levels on an ERMI test, but we find the mycotoxins it produces at very high levels.
This is indicative of a hidden, but very toxic, source of mold growth. It can make the difference between thinking your house is average based on an ERMI, and knowing that it’s actually really unsafe.
Other Environmental Assessment
Depending on your situation, additional environmental assessment may be recommended including air sampling, moisture mapping, or working with a certified indoor environmental professional (IEP) to identify hidden water damage and mold sources.
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I also sometimes recommend certified mold-sniffing dogs to help identify hidden sources of mold that don’t show up on a typical inspection.
And if CIRS is suspected, it can be worthwhile to assess for all biotoxin levels in the home that can trigger Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, including mycotoxins, endotoxins, and actinomycetes. With CIRS bacterial toxins can keep someone sick just as much as mycotoxins, and sometimes the bigger issue in a home is a plumbing gas leak, not water damage.
How to Test for Mold in Your Body: The Process
Step 1. Initial Consultation
We start with a full clinical history including your symptoms, timeline, and exposure history. This helps determine which tests are most appropriate for your situation.
Step 2. Test Kit Sent to Your Home
Most mold toxicity testing can be completed from home using kits sent directly to you. For specialty blood tests, you can have a phlebotomist come to your home. Basic blood work can be completed at a local lab.
Step 3. Results Review and Interpretation
Once results are in, we review them together. I explain what the results mean, what they tell us about your specific situation, and how they inform the treatment plan. You will leave with a clear picture of what is actually happening in your body and what we are going to do about it.
Step 4. Treatment Plan
Testing results directly guide your personalized mold toxicity treatment plan. See [Mold Toxicity Treatment] for a full overview of how I approach treatment.
ERMI Test vs Body Mold Test: What Is the Difference?
A common question is whether to test the environment or the body first.
Mycotoxin antibody testing of your body can tell you which mycotoxins have accumulated in your body, which mycotoxins you’re currently being exposed to in your environment(s), and whether you’re likely dealing with fungal colonization as well.
I like to start here, because sometimes the results indicate more past exposure or fungal colonization of the body, and not current exposure.
If you’re being exposed in multiple places like at home and at work, the body testing will show us the cumulative effect of both.
If we see evidence of current exposure (and symptoms correlate), then it makes sense to do ERMI and potentially environmental mycotoxin tests to assess your environment.
They tell you whether toxic mold is present in your home or workplace, and if so which kinds.
Both types of testing provide important and different information. Environmental testing confirms the source. Body testing confirms the impact. In most cases, both are part of a complete evaluation.
If you are unsure where to start, a clinical consultation helps determine which tests make the most sense for your specific situation first.
Mold Toxicity Testing for Oregon and Colorado Patients
I provide mold toxicity testing and diagnosis via telehealth for patients across Oregon and Colorado. Most testing can be completed from home. No in person visits are required to get started.
If you are in Oregon, see Mold Illness Care in Oregon
If you are in Colorado, see Mold Illness Care in Colorado
Frequently Asked Questions
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Some direct to consumer mycotoxin tests are available without a doctor. The limitation is interpretation. Knowing which mycotoxins are present is only the first step. Understanding what those results mean clinically, how they interact with your full symptom picture, and how to use them to build a treatment plan requires clinical expertise in mold illness. A positive mycotoxin test without proper follow through can also lead to unnecessary or poorly sequenced treatment that can sometimes make things worse, rather than better.
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A negative mycotoxin antibody test does not definitively rule out mold toxicity. However, I find that false negatives with this testing method to be rare. That is why I use this form of testing over mycotoxin urine testing, which has a high false negative rate. Clinical history, Mold Illness Questionnaire results, VCS testing, CIRS panel results, and environmental testing all contribute to the full diagnostic picture. If your test is negative but the clinical picture is strong, we discuss what that means and what next steps make sense.
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Depending on your symptoms and history, I may use mycotoxin serum antibody testing, mycotoxin urine testing, CIRS panels, and VCS (visual contrast sensitivity) testing. I also look at your full clinical picture, not just lab numbers, to understand what is actually going on in your body.
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If you have already moved, environmental testing of your previous home is no longer important, but testing where you moved TO is still very important because we need to make sure you’re in a healthy environment for healing. After moving out of a terrible exposure, body testing also becomes the priority to assess your current mycotoxin load and how your system is responding.
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Yes. Most of the specialized testing I use for mold toxicity can be completed entirely from home through mail in kits. Blood draws that cannot be done at home can be completed at a local lab near you. Telehealth does not limit the quality or comprehensiveness of the evaluation.
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The best starting point depends on your specific situation and symptom picture. A clinical consultation is the most efficient way to determine which tests are most appropriate for you rather than ordering tests that may not be the right fit. Book a free consult and we will map out the right testing approach for your situation.
Ready to Get the Right Testing and Actual Answers?
If you’ve been told your labs are normal while your health continues to decline, the issue is that the right tests have not been run.
I provide comprehensive mold toxicity testing and diagnosis of the root drivers of chronic illness via telehealth for patients in Oregon and Colorado. Book a free consult to talk through your symptoms and determine which tests make the most sense for your situation.