energyandstruct
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- Joined
- Nov 27, 2017
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tucson is a bad location, its probably not the elevation
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Nicknames and Symptoms
* The toxin has been informally referred to by mold avoiders by a few different names: “Tahoe Toxin,” “Mystery Toxin” and “Ick.” (The latter nickname is derived from the term “Idiopathic Contaminant” or “IC.”)
* The toxin has a cluster of very specific symptoms associated with it (listed at the bottom of this note). Although some of these symptoms also are associated with various kinds of mold toxins or various other toxins, many seem to be much more specific to this particular toxin.
* As with toxins originating in moldy buildings, this toxin appears to be much more problematic even in very tiny quantities for people who previously have acquired toxic mold illness or who have apparently related illnesses (including ME/CFS, chronic Lyme disease, Gulf War syndrome or fibromyalgia) than it is even in much larger quantities for healthy people. (In cases of more intense exposures, otherwise healthy people may be noticeably affected, with symptoms manifesting mostly as mood issues but occasionally as heart attacks.) Only in a few cases (specifically: the Tahoe epidemic) do people seem to have been driven into CIRS-type illnesses from exposures to this toxin alone, without exposure to a particularly bad building also being experienced.
Sea otters off the coast of northern California have been affected by a variety of marine biotoxins — including domoic acid, the one causing Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning.
Hypotheses Regarding Origination
* The symptoms that are associated with this “Mystery Toxin” are extremely similar to those associated with marine biotoxins, such as those made by certain diatoms or cyanobacteria. For instance, following is a paper looking at a marine biotoxin called domoic acid, which became recognized as causing a disease named Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning subsequent to an illness outbreak in Canada in 1987. All of the ASP symptoms described (including extremely severe memory losses, severe headaches, seizures, agitation, hemiparesis, distal atrophy, weakness of extremities, severe gastrointestinal issues, and a few deaths attributed to heart attacks) were all reported at equal levels of severity during the Lake Tahoe epidemic in 1984-1986. A variety of other aquatic biotoxins are accepted in the literature of being capable of causing similar symptoms.
* These aquatic biotoxins are accepted in the literature as causing health damage via specific mechanisms: by affecting GABA/glutamate, calcium ion channels, and the hippocampus/amygdala. Abnormalities with these mechanisms tend to be associated especially with health conditions such as seizures (and seizure-related emotional conditions such as rapid-cycling bipolar), excitotoxicity, and cardiac dysfunctions — all conditions that aquatic biotoxins are acknowledged to cause.
* From what I have been able to find, there is only one mold toxin that has been shown to be capable of producing damage via these mechanisms: Penitrem A, an emerging mycotoxin with several dozen papers in the literature. At some point soon, I am going to summarize this information into a review (unless one of you would like to do that!) and then blog about my thoughts on it. In the meantime, here is a list of all of the peer-reviewed articles that have been published about it so far, as well as a news story about it published in Science Daily.
Penicillium Crustosum, a mold that sometimes makes the dangerous mycotoxin Penitrem A
* Penitrem A is made by a few species of mold, including Penicillium crustosum. P. crustosum is a mold that is listed on the ERMI as indicative of water damage to buildings but nonetheless categorized as “Group 2,” and it is my understanding that this mold is thought to rarely produce toxins when growing indoors. The case reports in the literature seem to be suggesting that the problematic toxin, Penitrem A, occurs either when it is growing outdoors or when growing on food. Penitrem A is accepted in the literature as capable of causing significant damage even in very small quantities.
Angel Moldes-Anaya, a researcher studying Penitrem A in Norway.
* Much of the recent prominent literature about Penitrem A (including the paper profiled in Science Daily) is from a researcher named Angel Moldes-Anaya out of Norway. That is of particular interest to me since “CFS” frequently seems to manifest itself particularly severely in Norway (e.g. severely enough that Rituximab — a chemotherapy treatment that destroys all the B cells in the system — is being studied there in a mainstream way as a treatment for the disease).
* A few more notes about P. crustosum: It is a physical match for the mold that Erik encountered growing on the log that triggered him into severe “CFS” in 1985 (green-beige with white tips); it is known to make Penitrem A while growing in sewage; it produces airborne spores; and there is one report that it is capable of growing in the human sinuses. (Whether the form growing in the sinuses is capable of making Penitrem A is unclear.)
Observations Regarding Environmental Characteristics
* Regardless of what the toxin associated with the Lake Tahoe epidemic consists of, it mostly seems to be associated with sewage (including sewers, sewage ponds and — occasionally — RV black water tanks). It also has been noted with regard to a few forests that have been treated with fire retardants and with regard to one compost farm.
* The extent to which cities end up with sewage dumped into rivers or other bodies of water (due to infrastructure issues insufficient to handle overflows associated with storms) seems to correlate fairly well with the extent to which this “Mystery Toxin” is an observed problem in those cities.
Sewage being dumped into a river.
* Anecdotally, the “Mystery Toxin” seems to be particularly associated with places that have been contaminated with one or both of the following types of manmade chemicals: a) industrial solvents (such as the TCE used to “wash” computer chips in the SF Bay Area in the early 1980’s or the underground dioxane plume often discussed as currently threatening the Ann Arbor water supply) and b) forest fire retardant usage. I thus believe that one or both of these may be a factor either in causing the microbes responsible for producing the toxin to grow more readily in those places; in prompting the microbes to produce more dangerous mycotoxins in “retaliation” to the presence of the chemicals; in providing the microbes with “food” in order to create more dangerous toxins; or interacting with the microbes in some other way.
* We have no observations of areas that were clear of this “Mystery Toxin” 6+ years ago becoming problematic with it since (though certainly some areas that previously were bad with it recently have gotten worse). This suggests the possibility that a driving factor in the production of the toxin (e.g. chemical, radiation, metal, etc.) is no longer being added to the environment.
* In general, the “Mystery Toxin” does not seem to be one that originates from inside buildings. When present in buildings, it seems to be either a) associated with seepage “from below” (e.g. Henness Flats in Truckee), b) originating from sewage backups, or c) brought in from outdoors (e.g. entry carpets at Truckee High School).
The “Mystery Toxin” tends to become much more problematic during times of approaching storms, especially in winter.
* In locations where it is present, this toxin tends to become much more problematic at certain times than at others. Sharp barometric pressure drops (oncoming storms) are the biggest trigger for it to become more prevalent in the air. On average, it tends to be more of a problem in the winter (October – March) than during the summer months. It also has the ability to blow long distances (we believe at least a few hundred miles at strengths sufficient to have an effect on those pursuing extreme avoidance, if winds are strong enough and there are no barriers such as mountains), and so taking into consideration wind direction can be important in monitoring its effects.
Cross-Contamination
* This toxin cross-contaminates to a larger extent than most indoor molds. Items that have been badly contaminated by even a brief exposure to a particularly bad location may not be remediable (to the ability of hyperreactive people to tolerate them without negative effects). Insofar as items have not been washed, they may easily cross-contaminate other items as well. (For this reason as well as others, we believe the toxin to be carried on spores that are easily transferable rather than just present as a toxic gas.) Cars that have spent time in a particularly problematic location may be cross-contaminated enough to be unusable by severe reactors for many years after removal from the problematic location.
Driving a vehicle temporarily to a higher altitude has been reported as being helpful at nullifying some of the cross-contamination effects of the “Mystery Toxin.”
* Most typically suggested forms of cleaning such as the use of chemicals are ineffective at removing this toxin. Washing the item to remove spores and placing in sun may be helpful for mild cross-contaminations. The use of microbes (particularly homemade kefir but possibly also EM) has some positive reports. Very strong ozone (such as applied to a single item enclosed in a box for a few days) has some positive reports. The use of a flamethrower torch has positive reports from some mold avoiders for toxins of all sorts, but obviously this is a dangerous approach that is limited in applicability. A number of people have reported with regard to vehicles transiently cross-contaminated with this toxin (such as inadvertently driving through a “plume” of it) that bringing it to a higher altitude (such as 1000 feet higher), leaving it there for a few hours, returning to the baseline and then washing all surfaces with water and mild soap can be helpful. But in general, especially for people who have been living for extended periods of time in locations that are problematic with this toxin, attempting to remediate belongings from it may be best considered a lost cause.
* Air filters are not helpful in allowing people to live in places with this toxin. What typically happens is that the filtration seems to be helpful for a few days, but then the unit (meaning the whole plastic unit rather than just the filter) becomes so cross-contaminated that it is the worst item in the house (making it counterproductive to keep using it).
Problematic Locations
* For people who are already sick with toxic mold illness, the amount of this toxin in the outdoor air in particularly problematic places appears to have the potential of keeping them just as sick as if they continued to live in all but the most problematic buildings (e.g. worst 1% of all buildings). Hoping that mold-injured patients can move into even a pristine building and make any progress at all in a location where the air is particularly problematic with regard to this substance may not be realistic, therefore.
The skyline of Wichita, a city where a number of mold avoiders have reported doing well.
* In our experience, most major cities have at least a moderate amount of this toxin present at least some of the time. Many smaller cities do as well. Cities that have relatively little of it (such as Palm Springs, Santa Cruz, Wichita, Albuquerque and — with scattered problem days — Las Vegas) tend to be ones where people recovering from toxic mold illness often do relatively well.
* Some locations are particularly affected by this toxin, according to the reports of people doing extreme mold avoidance. These same locations also tend to generate many reports of sufferers having a hard time recovering no matter how many times they move (or what kinds of ERMI scores their new homes get, how many times they start fresh with new belongings, or what kind of medical treatments or other treatments they receive). Although this is not a comprehensive list, places in the U.S. that I believe to be bad enough to be considered as an important factor for people who are not recovering as expected include the following: Ann Arbor (MI); Dallas-Ft. Worth (TX); Truckee-Tahoe (CA-NV); most of the SF Bay Area (only very sporadically in SF itself — much more consistently and strongly affected are Mountain View, Berkeley/Richmond/Oakland and certain other towns in the area); scattered other towns in northern California (a few of these include Petaluma, Monterey, Sacramento, Fresno and Grass Valley); at least some parts of western Oregon (including Eugene and Portland); much or possibly all of Delaware and NJ; Washington (DC); at least some of the Boston area; at least parts of upstate NY; and at least parts of Alabama and Louisiana. The “Mystery Toxin” in these places seems to rise well above ground, with a number of people reporting being able to detect it in an airplane prior to landing.
A sign near the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., providing an alert about sewage dumping.
* The entire Tucson/Phoenix area (with the possible exception of Scottsdale) is significantly but somewhat less intensely contaminated with this toxin — a factor worth mentioning since that is a prototypical area where many people hope that they can get better from mold illness. (Of course, the indoor molds and pesticides present in many buildings in this area are not helpful either.) Getting out of the basin (e.g. east to Benson, north to Happy Valley, or at least a few thousand feet up into the mountains) seems to be required in order to escape the “Mystery Toxin” in this area.
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