Can medical tests identify mold allergies?
Current tests can identify allergies to fewer than ten of the hundreds of molds that can grow indoors. Therefore, students or staff may have mold allergies that a doctor cannot accurately diagnose with an allergy test. Is there a test that will indicate whether students or staff have been exposed to mold toxins? No, there are no blood, urine, or other medical tests that can determine whether someone has been exposed to a mold toxin. Researchers and laboratories are working to develop such tests, but none has yet been shown to be accurate. Is there a test that will indicate whether students or staff have been exposed to molds inside school buildings? No. The allergy tests mentioned above may identify people who are hypersensitive to molds. However, there is no medical test that can accurately determine where or when people were most recently exposed to the molds that activate their allergies. People encounter high levels of airborne mold spores in many places, for example, when gardenin
