Is Green Mold more Dangerous than other Colors?

I am often asked what color of mold is the most dangerous. According to Cornell University studies, the five categories of toxic molds are Cladosporium, Penicillium, Fusarium, Aspergillus, and Stachybotrys.

The colors of these molds can be yellow, green, white, light gray, and black. In general, the color of a mold colony is often determined by the substrate it is living on. The food source determines the color of the colony.

Toxic Mold Types

Cladosporium is a common mold and is often found in yellow, green, and black. It can cause adverse health effects, including allergenic responses and asthma symptoms. Cladosporium can cause rashes and skin infections.

When people think of Penicillium they often think of a green-colored mold. However, Penicillium can also be white, yellow, and black. Penicillium is a Type 1 allergen, which causes flu, hay fever, respiratory distress, and fatigue.

It can also cause infections. These include keratitis (inflammation of the cornea), Otomycosis (infection of the ear canal), pneumonia, and urinary tract infections.

Fusarium is often a grayish red and is ubiquitous to soil, plants, and often found on foods (especially stored grains). It requires extreme water-saturated conditions to thrive. It can cause a broad range of infections, including keratitis, onychomycosis. Strong evidence suggests that it may play a role in human cancer.

Stachybotrys is the famous "black mold" that most of America knows. The color is most often black. However, it often appears in different shades of gray. It only grows on materials made mostly of cellulose that have been wet for an extended time.

Stachybotrys chartarum can produce toxic mycotoxins called Satratoxin, Stachybotrys lastam, and trichothecenes. These mycotoxins are potent and can cause a wide variety of health problems when exposed.

Chaetomium should also be added to the list of dangerous molds because of the mycotoxins in produces. It is often found as a dark green color, but it can also be seen as black and light gray. This mold often thrives in a moist (to saturated) environment, with more moisture than what penicillium likes.

The mycotoxins that Chaetomium can produce make this mold one of the more dangerous for exposure. This can cause pulmonary mycosis, severe brain abscesses, and fatal cerebral infections. There have also been reports of teratogenic (birth defects) and carcinogenic (cancer) effects.

So to answer the general question "Is green mold more dangerous than other colors of mold" the answer is no. The same mold can be different colors based on what it is growing on, and there are dangerous molds that are not green. It is not wise to try and identify the type of mold or judge the potential health effects, solely based on color. A better solution is to collect a tape lift sample and send it to be analyzed in a laboratory.