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Toxic Moldy Breast Implants

Mar 4, 2026 | Mold Symptoms | 0 comments

Approximately 350,00 breast augmentation procedures (including primary and revision implant placements) were performed in the U.S. in 2025, making breast augmentation one of the most common cosmetic surgeries.

While many patients are satisfied with their results, breast implants are not lifetime devices and they come with known risks—some local and mechanical (like rupture or infection) and what some patients report is the discovery of “mold” on or in removed implants.

The latest serious issue to plague some women who previously had breast augmentation is that they have dangerous mold such as aspergillus growing in their breasts, and it is making them deathly ill.

Below we detail multiple women in media stories showed photos of brown, black, or green discoloration or debris in their implants or surrounding fluid and described it as mold, often in the setting of breast implant illness–type symptoms.

Several plastic surgeons and case reports confirm that true fungal infections of breast implants (mold or yeast species such as Penicillium, Aspergillus, Candida, Scedosporium) are rare but documented, usually linked to contamination at the time of surgery or issues like saline fill technique or valve defects.

This a story that this multi-billion dollar industry does not want to get out.

Regulators like FDA have not formally recognized “mold in implants” as a common adverse event category, but lawsuits and investigative stories highlight ongoing concern and litigation around mold, bio‑toxins, and systemic illness claims.

These news reports of mold growing in women’s breast have been coming out in the media and on various Facebook groups over the last decade.

In July 2016, Crystal Hefner publicly shared that she chose to remove her implants after experiencing debilitating symptoms she believed were related to them, including fatigue, brain fog, and recurrent infections, and she linked these to what she called breast implant illness in the context of also having Lyme disease and toxic mold exposure.

News coverage highlighted that her doctors had previously considered Lyme disease and environmental mold as contributors, and some surgeons cautioned that her case should not be taken as proof that implants alone cause systemic disease in all patients.

News outlets have also covered individual cases in which patients said explanted saline implants appeared moldy—such as Anne Ziegenhorn’s story reported by WEAR‑TV and republished by other stations, where her removed saline implants were described as “covered with mold,” and a plastic surgeon suggested defective valves may have allowed mold growth inside the devices.

The diagnosis that Anne believes saved her life came from Dr. Susan Kolb, author of “The Naked Truth About Breast Implants.” Dr. Kolb said, “My experience in doing this for thirty years is that eventually everybody will become ill from their breast implants, unless they die sooner from something else.”

Dr. Kolb says she’s seeing lots of women with mold in their saline implants, often from defective valves. She says some patients also have detoxification problems, that make them particularly sensitive to the silicone shells of the implants. She says in 25-30 percent of the population, the reactions are debilitating. The doctor is not anti-implants, she has them herself. But she believes for safety, women need to get their implants replaced every eight to fifteen years.

High‑profile news stories

  1. Brandi Glanville says black mold may have been found on implant (2026)

  2. Influencers removing implants after “mold” and symptoms (2026)

  3. “Mold” in woman’s breast implant nearly killed her (New York Post, 2022)

  4. Woman horrified to find mold in implants after debilitating illness (Newsweek, 2022)

  5. “Mouldy” implant and Hashimoto’s disease (The Independent, 2022)

  6. Woman reveals “moldy” implants after life‑changing removal (PlasticSurgeryPractice, 2022)

  7. Florida woman warns of dangers of moldy saline implants (2015)

Legal and clinical mold‑related reports

  1. Mentor saline implant lawsuit over mold infection and bio‑toxin disease (2017)

  2. Moldy implants and breast implant illness case discussion (MDLinx, 2023)

  3. Rare Penicillium fungal infection of saline implant (2022 case report)

    • Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9275409/​

    • Description: Peer‑reviewed case report of a 39‑year‑old woman with a 20‑year‑old saline implant, capsular contracture, and systemic symptoms; surgery revealed purulent drainage and green turbid fluid, with cultures growing Penicillium species and Propionibacterium acnes, and her symptoms resolved after explant.​

  4. Fungal infections reported after prosthetic breast implantation (Aspergillus case)

    • Link: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/58h7b4z6​

    • Description: Case report of a 27‑year‑old woman who developed ongoing postoperative breast infection; cultures revealed Aspergillus species following prosthetic breast implantation, illustrating that molds can occasionally infect peri‑implant tissues.

Here are the clickable source links mentioned:

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