Common Indoor Molds

	Aspergillus flavus This fungus can be found in water-damaged carpets and building materials. It has been reported to be allergenic and it's presence is associated with asthma. This fungus is also associated with aspergillosis of the lungs and/or disseminated aspergillosis as well as ear and eye infections. Infections of the lungs, heart, and bladder have been reported on occasion. Some strains are capable of producing a group of mycotoxins in the aflatoxin group. The production of the toxins is dependent on the substrate and growth conditions.
	Aspergillus versicolor This fungus can be found in the air and house dust. Its presence in indoor air environments often indicates signs of moisture problems in buildings and it is readily found in water damaged building materials. This species produces the mycotoxin, sterigmatocystin, which is reported to be carcinogenic. The fungus has a musty, earthy odor, often connected with moldy houses and is a cause of eye, nose, and throat irritations.
	Nigrospora Nigrospora is reported to be allergenic. Morphological characteristics include 1-celled, shiny, black conidia which are egg-shaped or flattened spheres that often have an equatorial colorless line or germ slit. Nigrospora often appears as white wooly colonies growing fairly rapidly. This fungus can be a plant parasite of sarophytic.
	Scopulariopsis This fungus is ubiquitous, and can be found on a wide variety of materials including old carpets and water-damaged wall paper. Exposures from Scopulariopsis brevicaullis have been associated with cases of occupational allergy in the tobacco industry. It can decompose arsenic compounds found on building materials with an arsenic substrate, such as some types of wallpaper and paints.
	Aspergillus fumigatus This fungus is a saprophyte with worldwide distribution and is commonly found in house dust. The fungus occurs in outdoor and indoor air environments, in different types of soil and on decaying plant material, compost, wood chips, feathers, bird droppings, self-heated hay and crops. This fungus is an important causal agent of systemic mycosis in domestic animals and humans (immuno-compromised patient). Aspergillus fumagatus has also been reported to cause asthma and rhinitis ( allergies). This fungus produces a large number of specific mycotoxic and tremorgenis metabolites.
	Botrytis This fungus is a parasite of plants, soft fruits and vegetables. It is also known as "gray mold". Botryis is known to cause allergies and induce asthma attacks. Conidia are hyaline or gray in mass, 1-celled, ovoid dimensions 7-14 x 5-9 microns. In some types of agricultural settings, such as green houses, the concentration of aerosolized spores may be greatly enhanced. Botrytis is also used in some types of wine production.
	Pencillium brevicompactum Commonly found in water-damaged carpet, wallpaper, and some types of insulation. Penicillium is reported to be allergenic (skin) and may cause hypersensitivity pneumonitis and allergic alveolitis in susceptible individuals. It can cause other infections such as keratitis, penicilliosis, and otoomycpsis. Penicillium brevicompactum can produce the mycotoxin mycophenolic acid.
	Sporotrichum This fungus is reported to be allergenic. Sporotrichum is commonly found on decaying plant matter, wet and rotting wood and in landscaping mulch. It is morphologically similar to the human pathogen Sporothrix.
	Aspergillus niger This fungus is the third most common Aspergillus species associated with disease and is a very common environmental isolate. It is found in and upon a great variety of substrates including textiles, grains, fruits and vegetables, and soil. It is commonly associated with "fungus ball," a condition where fungus actively grows in the human lung, forming a ball, without invading lung tissue. Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus fumigatus have been reported to cause skin diseases and are a common cause of fungal related ear infections- otomycosis. Aspergillus niger generates many types of secondary metabolites including malformin C and some of the naptho-y-quinones.
	Geotrichum This fungus is commonly found in dairy products and also in soils. This genus can sometimes be pathogenic to man. It is characterized by the formation of chains of colorless, slimy spores (conidia) through the fermentation of vegetative filaments. Some species of Geotrichum have strong odors.
	Penicillium chrysogenum This species, formerly known as Penicillium notatum, was one of the first known producers of penicillin. It is commonly found and can act as a food source for some types of dust mites. Penicillium chrysogenium is often found growing as a dark green colony and can produce the mycotoxins roquefortine C, chrysogine, and meleagrin.
	Syncephalastrum This organism is considered to be primarily non-pathogenic in humans and is usually found in soils and in feces. Morphologically it is distinct with conidiophores erect, branched, tips enlarged, bearing a head of rod shaped sporangioles, each producing a row of nearly spherical conidia.