A major part of the confusion about the topic of silver toxicity comes from not differentiating between one form of silver and another or one method of preparation and another. It reminds me of the study (a spoof) in which a group of men were first given whisky and water, then gin and water and then vermouth and water. In every case the men got drunk, which led the scientists to conclude that water made you drunk.
Unless clear distinction is made between ionic/colloidal silver (CS) and all other forms of silver preparations, we are talking apples and oranges. The reason why CS is safe is for several reasons. One, the quantity of actual silver ingested is so very low, especially compared to the amounts mentioned in the scientific reports of argyria. Second, if made correctly, the particle size is so very small that it simply does not accumulate in the body like the large-particle silver salts and proteins. Third, there is no consideration given by the scientific community to differing accumulation/excretion rates of different forms of silver. The primary mechanism that has been at all acknowledged as causing silver to accumulate in the human body is the fact that large silver particles (compounds, salts, proteins) can accumulate in, as an example, the skin, because these particles get caught/lodged in the capillaries of the skin, being too large to get through. It is a recognized fact that silver joined to other substances (proteins, minerals, etc.) produce very large particles. On the other hand, *colloidal* silver particles range in size from 1/7,000th to 1/15,000th the size of a red blood cell, making the idea of them getting stuck in the capillaries rather ludicrous. Fourth, the issue of accumulation/excretion. Does any/every form of silver (protein, salt, colloidal, ionic) accumulate in the human body at the same rate? Or even at all? Roger Altmans medically supervised study demonstrated that clear, very tiny particle size CS did not accumulate in the human body whatsoever, even when ingested in voluminous quantities (quarts per day). This is not at all true of silver nitrate or silver arsphemamine. All of the studies appear to operate on the assumption that all forms of silver accumulate in the body, whatever the form or however fast the ingestion. But this must be taken into consideration, else estimates of quantities leading to argyria are meaningless. If I ingest one gram of silver (Which silver? What form?) over a period of one week or one year, does that make a difference? Altmans study demonstrates clearly that it does, at least concerning colloidal silver. Yet even the toxicology statistics discuss the methods of silver excretion (recognizing that the body does make an effort to dispose of extra or unnecessary silver). If the body does indeed excrete silver, wouldnt this affect accumulation rates? Obviously, if I ingest one gram of silver over a thirty-year period or if I do it in one day, that would be very significant. Yet none of the studies or statistics seem to comment on that important dynamic. Historically, we know that members of Europes royalty mechanically ground up silver into powder, stirred it into water or wine and drank it to protect themselves from sickness. How much larger would the smallest ground-up particles be than the largest particles found in electronically isolated colloidal silver? A thousand times bigger? 10,000 times? A million times? Some colloidal particles are so small they can pass through glass. When CS is prepared in improper ways, the particles become very large and the amount of silver in the preparation increases significantly. Even the reports that identify colloidal silver as the culprit do not examine the brewing process or the components of the preparation. Did they use tap water? Was it Fine silver or Sterling silver? How long was it brewed? What color was the CS? (In other words, what size were the particles?) Stan Jones acquired a faint bluish tinge under his eyes, but he made 8 ounces of CS using city tap water and brewed it for one hour. His CS would have looked like coffee, and he drank the whole 8 ounces each day! This was not Colloidal Silver, much less ionic silver. It was a sludge of silver compounds created by the interaction of the silver with the chemicals/minerals in the water. The scientific references to cases of argyria caused by colloidal silver do not impress me, given the way most scientists fail to differentiate between various forms of silver solutions/treatments, nor to even consider the principles of silver accumulation/excretion. Intravenous administration of an estimated total dose of 4-20 g silver arsphemamine over a 2- to 9.75-year period caused argyria in humans. Argyria developed after a total dose of 4-8 g in some patients, while in others argyria did not develop until after a total dose of 10-20 g (Gaul and Straud, 1935). http://risk.lsd.ornl.gov/tox/profiles/silver_f_V1.shtml The above is quoted from a govt website, and no, they dont estimate total dosage at 3.8 grams, they start at 4 grams or more. Argyria, a characteristic and irreversible gray or blue-gray discoloration of the skin and mucous membranes, has been observed in individuals that have ingested both metallic silver and silver compounds in small doses over periods of months or years. Argyria, both generalized or localized, has resulted from such uses as antismoking lozenges containing silver acetate, breath mints coated with silver, silver nitrate solutions for the treatment of gum disease, and silver nitrate capsules for relief of gastrointestinal discomfort (ATSDR, 1990; Stokinger, 1981). No colloidal silver here. The estimated total dose required to induce argyria by ingestion is in the range of 1-30 g for soluble silver salts (Nordberg and Gerhardsson, 1988). OK, now were down to merely 1 gram, but 1 gram of what? Silver protein? Silver salts? The article only mentions these, not colloids. The estimated total dose Over what period? In your whole life? All at once? This statement is meaningless. It can only have any meaning if absolutely none of the silver is excreted from the body, an idea these same scientists have refuted by discussing the various avenues that silver actually is excreted. Now, in fact, this study did say that an estimated total dose of 4-20 g silver arsphemamine over a 2- to 9.75-year period caused argyria in humans. Comments I have read that as little as 1 gram cumulative dose caused a case of argyria but seemed to conclude that something closer to 1.84 grams cumulative dose (the amount of silver in 8 grams of silver arsphenamine) was likely to cause argyria. Thats cumulative not per day!! The person who said this, like the scientists, makes no differentiation between one form of silver and another, nor considers the probability of differing accumulation/excretion rates between one form and another. I refer to Altmans study because, to my knowledge, no other study of accumulation/excretion rates in humans has even been performed by anyone else. Rats, mice, dogs and monkeys they know about, but they have no comment about humans. All the animals excrete at least 90% of the silver, 94% if orally ingested. One critic also said, Furthermore, the EPA gave LOW CONFIDENCE to its reference dose, because it simply didnt have enough studies. I think if youre telling people whats established as safe, you ought to point out that even your source is skeptical of its own work! Our own source is not the EPA or any other govt agency, because they do not examine nor test nor even consider true colloidal silver. Notice this next: ATSDR (1990) reports that the deposition of silver in tissues is the result of the precipitation of insoluble silver salts, such as silver chloride and silver phosphate. OK, we know that ATSDR (1990) is discussing insoluble silver salts, so we know what they actually mean when they next say this, The acute toxicity of silver compounds appears to be high. Oral LD50 values for mice reported for colloidal silver and silver nitrate are 100 mg/kg and 129 mg/kg, respectively.. When they say, colloidal silver, they are referring to large-particle silver salts and compounds, NOT tiny-particle silver colloids made from Fine silver and distilled water. Their refusal to differentiate between the two is both unscientific and irresponsible, and demonstrates a prejudice in the scientific community that would not be put up with about any other exact science. If we did want to refer to a govt agency as our source, we would refer to the FDA, who cannot find a single report of any kind of toxic or negative reaction to pure, electronically isolated CS. Then theres a last hypocrisy that needs attention. The opponents of silver and CS must scour the literature to find any evidence that the product we are so enthusiastic about might actually be harmful in any way, and the evidence they do find is rare and suspect at best, non-existent at worst. But lets say that there a couple or even a dozen cases that indicate that folks who overdose on silver (although, again, which silver?), turn gray or whatever. So what? 300+ people every YEAR die from aspirin overdose, and it is available without prescription, and what actual health benefit does aspirin give anyone? How many people each year die from prescription drugs, yet they are freely available. To have to diligently search to even find what might be a problem with silver, while steadfastly ignoring the slaughter that is all around us is the height of hypocrisy, in my opinion. Finally, there is a great need to agree on the same vocabulary. We use the word colloidal to refer to very small particles of silver that floating around in the water. These particles are not dissolved into the water, they are suspended in the water, and held in suspension by their identical charge, which makes them repel each other like two north ends of two magnets. So far, that is the same way the scientific community uses that word (or pretty much), except that general science uses the word "colloidal" to refer to solutions we would never call "colloidal", such as silver compounds and proteins. We use the word ionic to refer to particles that are so small that they are considered to be dissolved into the water, like a teaspoon of sugar stirred into a glass of water. Colloids can fall out of suspension and sink to the bottom (from light, or magnetism, or freezing), but we do not believe that ionic particles behave in that way. We use these arbitrary definitions because science does not give us words or terms that differentiate between particles in suspension and particles in solution, except to say particles in suspension and particles in solution. We differentiate between colloidal silver and every other form of silver because we believe that is the difference between safe and unsafe silver. In fact, the properties of silver and its affects upon the human body change considerably as the size decreases, and as it becomes pure (not joined to other substances). Dr. Robert Demling is the first I have seen who identifies these property changes: http://www.cesil.com/leaderforchemist/articoli/inglese/7demlinging/7demlinging.htm Silver has been used for centuries to prevent and treat a variety of diseases, most notably infections. It has been well documented that silver coins were used in ancient Greece and Rome as a disinfectant for the storage of water and other liquids. (1,2) More recently, NASA still uses silver to maintain water purity on the space shuttle. Silver has extremely potent antimicrobial properties, as only one part per 100 million of elemental silver is an effective antimicrobial in a solution. Free silver ions, or radicals, are known to be the active antimicrobial agent. In order to achieve a bactericidal effect, silver ions must be available in solution at the bacterial surface. Efficacy depends on the aqueous concentration of these ions. Silver ions appear to kill micro-organisms instantly by blocking the respiratory enzyme system (energy production), as well as altering microbe DNA and the cell wall, while having no toxic effect on human cells in vivo. Silver in solution has been used as an antimicrobial for wound management for nearly a century. However, crystalline silver is quite insoluble in water and in dilute acids making the available silver cation concentration, inadequate for use as an antimicrobial on a wound surface. Beginning in the 1920s, a small electrical charge was passed thru water and silver crystals in order to obtain an effective silver (electro-colloidal) ion solution to be used topically on wounds. The charged silver solutions (electro-colloidal) were approved in the 1920s by the FDA for use as an antibacterial agent.(3) Some wound centers still use these solutions although silver ions in solution are quite unstable. In addition, to its recognized antibacterial properties, beginning with the electro-colloidal elemental form, silver solutions have been reported to improve the healing of indolent wounds and to regenerate damaged tissue. The description of decreased rubor in wounds also reflects an anti-inflammatory property of silver. More recent information has provided, at least a hypotheses as to the mechanism of silvers pro-healing and anti-inflammatory effects. Initial literature reports on the use of pure silver, mainly in the electro-colloidal form, occurred prior to the 1940s when pure silver was still being used. After 1940 a host of systemic antibiotics became prevalent, decreasing the use of silver except as a topical agent. During this transition, silver was complexed as a salt (e.g. silver nitrate and silver sulfadiazine) or other compound (e.g. silver protein) to increase the available silver ion concentration. These silver complexes remain a popular topical antimicrobial agent for the care of wounds. Silver itself is considered to be non-toxic to human cells in vivo.(4) The only reported complication is the cosmetic abnormality argyria caused by precipitation of silver salts in the skin and leading to a blue-gray color.(2) The property of matter depends on size and many of the chemical and physical characteristics change significantly when matter is reduced in size.11,12 Nanotechnology is a general term that refers to a relatively new frontier of scientific endeavor. The prefix nano signifies one-billionth. Therefore, a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, a nanogram is one-billionth of a gram. Ten hydrogen atoms placed side by side measures one nanometer in length. Silver crystals sputtered under normal vapor deposit conditions result in tightly adherent crystals of 100-900nm in diameter (Figure 1). Decreasing crystal volume by nanotechnology markedly increases the exposed surface area of the crystal (Figure 2) which increases the available surface for chemical reactions to take place over a shorter time period. Decreasing the particle size will also, in general, change the physical/chemical properties of the material. Examples of changed properties resulting from nano-sized metals, include increased superconductivity and increased optical and electrical properties. Nanosizing can also lead to a more economical utilization of expensive materials-meaning that can use less material because the reactions are more efficient. Although not yet specifically defined, it is clear that some of the properties of silver in a nanocrystal are quite different than the typical crystal.(11-15) A large portion of the silver is available as grain or interphase boundaries, considered by some to be a new form of matter. Although Dr. Demling is discussing a more specific type of CS than we produce, he is establishing the concepts of differing forms of silver behaving in different ways. The above quotes are a part of his commentary. Although we are not making nanotechnology CS, we are making something far different, and far safer, than the clumsy, chemicalized substances that doctors have utilized in the past, and by which they try to judge the safety/effectiveness of what we make. The similarity between silver nitrate, silver arsphemamine and other insoluble silver salts is about like the similarity between a novel and the movie. They both have the same title, but thats about it. Terry Chamberlin __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Instructions for unsubscribing are posted at: http://silverlist.org To post, address your message to: silver-list@eskimo.com Silver List archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html Address Off-Topic messages to: silver-off-topic-l...@eskimo.com OT Archive: http://escribe.com/health/silverofftopiclist/index.html List maintainer: Mike Devour <mdev...@eskimo.com>
