Review of proposed injury mechanisms from exposure to water-damaged buildings
Hope J (2013) · The Scientific World Journal 2013:767482
A review summarized proposed biological pathways linking water-damaged building exposure to reported illness, covering mycotoxins, bacterial agents, and immune dysregulation.
What they studied
A narrative review of the literature on exposures present in water-damaged buildings.
Proposed mechanisms including mycotoxin toxicity, endotoxin and bacterial fragments, and immune dysregulation.
Reported treatment approaches described in the cited literature.
What they found
The author reported that water-damaged building exposure involves a mixture of fungal, bacterial, and chemical agents rather than a single organism.
Immune dysregulation and inflammatory signaling were described as the most commonly proposed pathways in the reviewed sources.
The review reported wide variation in the quality of evidence supporting the described treatment approaches.
What it does not establish
A narrative review, not a systematic synthesis or meta-analysis.
Mechanistic proposals are largely drawn from animal and in vitro work.
Treatment claims in the cited literature are not established by controlled trials.
This entry reports the study. It is not a statement about any building Sage Co. designs or constructs.
Source
- Hope J (2013). A review of the mechanism of injury and treatment approaches for illness resulting from exposure to water-damaged buildings, mold, and mycotoxins · The Scientific World Journal 2013:767482 · Read at the source
Last reviewed August 30, 2026.