Environmental Mycotoxin Testing at EMSL

The name mycotoxin is derived from the Greek word ‘mykes’ meaning fungus and the Latin word ‘toxicum’ meaning poison. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by fungi (including molds) that cause illness or death in humans or animals, typically through ingestion. Some mycotoxins are also toxic to plants or other microorganisms (called antibiotics). Fungi produce many different secondary metabolites as a product of their metabolism. The reason why fungi produce mycotoxins for themselves is still not clear. It may be a mechanism to secure a food source from their competitors; chemical warfare at its most basic form!

Fungi are a natural part of the environment with most species living on dead organic matter that they help to decompose, while many others may cause diseases in plants. More than 300 mycotoxins have been detected from over 200 fungal species. For most, their toxicological characteristics have not been fully described. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has estimated that 25% of the world’s crops are contaminated with mycotoxins, and certain diseases have been linked to ingestion of food and feed contaminated with mycotoxins. New evidence that indoor air pollution from toxigenic fungi may play a role in human illness has implicated that mycotoxins could have a much bigger role in chronic disease than was previously thought possible (CAST 2003).

Historically, the first fragmentary information of fungal poisoning was in ancient Greco-Roman times although it was not until the Renaissance that more precise descriptions are found. Modern mycotoxicology really began with the discovery of aflatoxin in the early 1960’s as the chemical compound responsible for causing “Turkey X” disease. Over 10,000 turkeys were killed after consuming contaminated peanut meal.