Satratoxin G

If you've felt worse since living or working somewhere with water damage, the building and your symptoms deserve attention. Urinary satratoxin G is an exploratory measurement. It has not been shown to identify building-related exposure, explain symptoms, or guide treatment. A reported detection cannot by itself connect your illness to a particular building. CDC discussion of urine mycotoxin testing.

Expert opinion leans further against this kind of testing than "unproven" suggests. The American College of Medical Toxicology's 2025 position statement found no toxicology-based diagnostic or treatment approach that supports mycotoxin inhalation illness in damp buildings. It also notes that modeled inhaled mycotoxin doses in moldy buildings are generally far below levels linked to harm and below ordinary dietary exposure. Some clinical reviewers describe urine mycotoxin testing as having no established relevance to clinical disease. ACMT position statement.

A Toxin From Mold on Wet Materials

Certain strains of Stachybotrys chartarum produce satratoxin G. This mold can grow on materials such as paper and wallboard when they remain wet. Satratoxin G belongs to a group of chemically related mold toxins called macrocyclic trichothecenes. Other strains of the same mold make different compounds and do not produce satratoxins. Finding the mold in a building does not establish that it is producing this toxin or that you've absorbed a harmful dose. CDC facts about Stachybotrys, ACMT position statement.

What This Urine Result Represents

The named substance for this test is satratoxin G in urine. Results are reported in ng/g creatinine. Creatinine is a waste product produced by muscles and removed by the kidneys. Dividing the toxin concentration by urine creatinine helps account for dilution, but it does not measure the total amount of toxin in your body. Research on urine creatinine adjustment.

The listed test information does not specify a measurement method. That leaves unanswered how the laboratory distinguishes satratoxin G from related chemicals and how accurately it measures small amounts in urine. Published antibody-based assays can recognize several related toxins. Their findings cannot automatically be treated as measurements of satratoxin G alone. Research on satratoxin assay specificity.

What the Human Studies Measured

A study of workers in a water-damaged office found more respiratory complaints, eye and skin symptoms, and chronic fatigue symptoms than in a comparison group. The workers also had a lower percentage of mature T cells. The mold characterized in that study produced satratoxin H, and the researchers did not measure urinary satratoxin G. These observations concern a mixed building exposure and do not establish a symptom pattern or immune-cell pattern that diagnoses satratoxin G toxicity. Office-worker study.

There is some direct human research on satratoxin G, but it examined a different measurement. Researchers reported the toxin attached to a blood protein in serum from three people with documented Stachybotrys exposure. Serum is the liquid left after blood clots. A later review noted that the antibody test used to detect the toxin was criticized as non-specific and unvalidated, and the three-person finding has not been independently replicated. It does not validate the amount of satratoxin G reported in a urine sample. Human serum study, Review of mold and health claims.

A frequently cited laboratory study used antibody-based tests for a group of macrocyclic trichothecenes, with satratoxin H and roridin A as reference chemicals. It reported separate findings for urine, nasal secretions, and tissue. Its authors are associated with commercial urine mycotoxin testing, and its results have drawn independent criticism. Its performance figures do not establish the accuracy of this individual satratoxin G urine test, and they cannot be used to promise that it reliably detects exposure or avoids false positives. Laboratory study.

How Long Does It Remain Detectable?

A human urine detection window has not been established. In mice given satratoxin G directly into the nose, researchers detected an antibody signal in urine over several days. Less than 0.3% of the administered dose was recovered in urine and feces combined over five days. The assay could also recognize related breakdown products, so the results were reported as satratoxin G equivalents. These animal findings do not establish how long this test stays positive in people, and they suggest urine is not a main route of elimination. Mouse distribution and excretion study.

When Results Can Be Misleading

• Uncertain chemical identification: antibody assays for this toxin family cross-react with satratoxin G, satratoxin H, roridins, and verrucarin A. A result may include related toxins. The laboratory needs evidence that its method identifies and measures satratoxin G specifically in urine. Assay research.
• Urine dilution and creatinine: hydration affects urine concentration, while age, sex, muscle mass, and kidney function affect creatinine. The adjustment reduces some variation but does not remove all of it. Urine creatinine study.
• Unknown exposure timing: the result cannot reliably date exposure. Human evidence does not support interpreting it as a reading of the previous day's time in a building. Excretion research in mice.
• Laboratory flags: a laboratory's detection limit or "positive" cutoff is not an established boundary between harmless exposure and illness. CDC discussion of clinical validity.

Changes Over Time

A repeat result may differ because of exposure, urine concentration, or measurement variation. Without studies establishing the usual variation and its relationship to exposure, a fall cannot confirm successful mold cleanup or reduced health risk. Repeated measurements remain exploratory; they do not supply the missing validation.