Colloidal Silver Medical Uses, Toxicology & Manufacture

Brief History of Silver and Silver Colloids in Medicine

Silver has been used as a medicine and preservative by many cultures throughout history. The Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and others used silver vessels for water and other liquids to keep them fresh. Pioneers trekking across the Wild West generations ago faced many hardships. Keeping safe drinking water was one of them. Bacteria, algae, etc. found a fertile breeding ground in the wooden water casks that were carried on the wagons. They placed silver and copper coins in the casks to retard the growth of these spoilage organisms. They also put silver dollars in their milk to keep it fresh.

Silver water purification filters and tablets manufactured in Switzerland are used by many nations and international airlines. Silver is also used in the water purification systems of space craft. Preventing the growth of algae and bacteria in swimming pools is another problem that people face today. Electrical ionization units that impregnate the water with silver and copper ions are available today that sanitize the pool water without the harsh effects of chlorine.

Medical applications of silver were recognized by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and in the alchemical writings of Paracelsus. Following the discovery of bacteria as a cause of disease, several physicians discovered the antibacterial qualities of silver and applied them to their practice of medicine. They used silver nitrate successfully in the treatment of skin ulcers, compound fractures, and suppurating wounds.

In 1881, Carl Crede pioneered the installation of 2% silver nitrate in the eye of neonates to prevent gonorrheal ophthalmia, a technique which has been in widespread use ever since. Von Naegeli and others in 1893 realized that the antibacterial effects of silver were primarily due to the silver ion. He coined the term oligodynamic to mean that a small amount of silver is released from the metallic surface when placed in contact with liquids.

In the early 1900's silver foil dressings were used for wounds. These dressings were used extensively until just after World War II, and were listed in the Physician's Desk Reference until 1955.

In the early 1970's, Drs. Becker, Marino, and Spadaro, of the Veterans Administration Hospital in Syracuse, New York, pioneered the study of implanted silver wires and electrodes and silver-coated fabrics for the treatment of complex bone infections.

Dr. A. B. Flick developed broader clinical applications for silver nylon fabrics, first in partnership with Dr. Becker and later independently. Other university centered research teams also investigated the wound healing properties of silver plated fabrics applied with the application of an electrical potential. The result was the commercial introduction of silver dressings for wound healing and burns.

Silver sulfadiazine ointment is the number one treatment for burns in U.S. burn centers. Silver coated catheters and silver heart valves are used because they stop the bacterial growth that was commonplace with the old ones. To protect us from food poisoning, silver particles are now being put in cutting boards, table tops, surface disinfectants, washing machines, and refrigerators. Silver is now being used in clothing, for the military, sportsman and businessman. It is woven and impregnated into the fabric to kill bacteria that cause body odor and clothing odors.

In contemporary times, colloidal silver as a medicinal substance for internal use is something of an orphan. It is popular among alternative medicine enthusiasts but is not approved by the FDA.

Silver was used as a medicine in the late 1800's and early 1900's. While several metal salts and compounds demonstrated strong germicidal properties, silver alone showed both strong germicidal properties and low or no toxicity to humans. The colloidal state proved to be the most effective form because it lacked the caustic properties of salts (such as silver nitrate) and demonstrated a high level of activity with very low concentrations.

Medicinal silver compounds were in widespread use in the late 1800's and early 1900's. By 1940, there were approximately four dozen different silver compounds on the market being used to treat every known infectious disease.

These different silver preparations were drastically different from each other. Some were true colloids of silver, others were silver salts or other compounds of silver. Many were silver proteinates. The actual silver content also varied widely, with some products containing as much as 30% silver by weight.

With the discovery of antibiotics, interest in silver, as an anti-microbial medicine, declined. There were, at that time, no antibiotic resistant strains of disease organisms and there was a lot of excitement over the new wonder drugs.

In Ayurvedic medicine silver is used in small amounts as a tonic or elixir or rejuvenative agent for patients debilitated by age or disease. Silver was also used in homeopathic medicine. The dilute concentrations were in the same range as the modern low concentrations of colloidal silver.

Recently, with the development of antibiotic resistance in many diseases and the increase in new strains of bacteria and viruses worldwide, there is renewed interest in silver. Large companies are developing and introducing new silver compounds for a variety of anti-microbial applications, including protection against the spread of the AIDS virus. (2)

Today, colloidal silver is sold as a trace mineral supplement without medical claims or claims of specific benefits. Its need, or lack thereof, in human nutrition is not scientifically established. It remains popular as an "alternative" health care modality because of the large number of anecdotal reports of positive benefits.

Absorption and Elimination of Silver

Two very important factors in the safety of silver products are the total accumulated dose of silver and how quickly it was consumed. The rate of consumption is probably more important than the total quantity because there is an excretion process. If the intake exceeds the body's ability to eliminate the silver, it accumulates in the tissues. An estimation of the body's ability to eliminate silver is then critical to understanding what dosage is toxic.

It appears that colloidal silver is absorbed orally through the GI tract, through the nasal mucosa, sublingually, and rectally. Some individuals also have reported injecting colloidal silver or administering it intravenously.

None of the old medical literature that I was able to find gave a satisfactory assessment of the absorption, retention, and excretion of colloidal silver. The old literature suggested that silver is eliminated primarily through the feces with active biliary excretion. Even inhaled silver is eliminated through the feces. (63)

One individual, Roger Altman, Eng.Sc.D., conducted independent research without support or funding to find some of the answers to these questions. He made careful measurements of the silver that he consumed and the silver that he excreted in urine, feces, hair, nails, sweat, etc. From his carefully collected data, we now have an indication of how these processes work.

Dr. Altman consumed 2.34 mg of silver daily for several months then measured the total silver excreted from his body over a 24 hour period. He concluded that silver is excreted easily from the body, primarily in the urine. The total silver excreted during this particular measurement period exceeded the amount consumed during that period. This is accounted for by the variability of the amount of waste (urine, feces, etc.) eliminated from the body and the amount of silver consumed through food and water, etc. It does point out that silver is eliminated from the body much more efficiently than we previously thought. It may also explain why there have been very few cases of argyria reported by individuals using low dosage electrocolloidal silver. The colloidal silver that he was using was electrocolloidal silver made by the high voltage DC (180 VDC) process. (74)

This is only one set of measurements on one individual. However, the data is carefully obtained by a scientifically trained individual using modern analytical tools. It suggests that a healthy adult can consume approximately 2 mg of colloidal silver per day without risk. This data is insufficient, however, to assume that the same situation will prevail in other individuals. Someone with kidney disease, for example, may have difficulty eliminating silver and may risk toxicity with prophylactic consumption.

The following quotations are taken from the conclusion of the 24 hour silver balance test (daily intake=2.34 mg):

(1) "Silver is excreted easily from the body, primarily in the urine."

(2) "More silver was measured leaving the body than entering during a 24hour period. This probably can be accounted for by the variability of the total amount of urine and feces produced on a day to day basis, i.e., body tissue acts as a "flywheel" retaining and excreting more or less silver depending on the daily volume of bodily waste generated." [Author's note: There is also silver intake from food and water that would need to be accounted for].

(3) "Since the same daily amount of silver had been taken for several months prior to this 24 hour test, it is reasonable to conclude that the total amount of silver residing in the body tissue is many times that of the daily amount eliminated (this conclusion is supported by additional evidence given later). Therefore, it seems quite possible that CS taken prophylacticly offers better protection than CS taken only at the onset of illness."

[Author's note: The raw data suggests that very little silver goes into hair, nails, or perspiration.]

Dr. Altman also ran a measurement of silver elimination for 100 days following the cessation of silver intake. The elimination is primarily through the urine the first five days after ceasing silver intake. This phase is followed by a period of increased elimination of silver from the tissues. The later phase appears to be dominated by elimination of silver through the feces. Elimination through the feces is the major excretion pathway from day 33 to 96. He also noted that the intake of extra water increased the elimination of silver in the urine in almost direct proportion to the increase in water intake.

Dr. Altman's conclusions are:

"Ingestion of properly prepared CS does not result in silver accumulating in the body."

"There is no evidence that silver deposits significantly in hair or fingernails and, in fact, the data support the conclusion that after taking more than 2 mg of CS per day for several months, silver seems to be purged from the body (mostly through urine) at about the same rate at which it is consumed."

"Furthermore, upon terminating CS intake, it appears that as much as half of the silver residing in body tissue will be purged through urine and feces, but more and more through feces as time goes on, in less than a month. Even this relatively short residence time could be reduced substantially if several liters of water were consumed daily."

Another report on silver, the EPA IRIS Report (Integrated Risk Information Systems), states that a number of tests were completed to test the absorption and retention of ingested silver in a number of animals, including primates. In its conclusion, the test work indicated that between 90-99% of ingested silver was excreted on the second day after ingestion, and greater than 99% was excreted in less than a week. So, in other words, almost all of the ingested silver was out of the body in only two days, and most of the rest was out of the body in a week. (103)

The available information suggests that silver salts are clearly more toxic than silver proteins or colloidal silver. It is possible to produce a variety of silver salts and other silver compounds in some manufacturing processes. These may be left over from the materials used in the manufacturing process or may be produced by the manufacturing process as a by product, especially if impure materials are used. Some methods of producing silver colloids chemically use silver nitrate as one of the ingredients and there may be traces of it remaining in the mixture.

For someone using colloidal silver, it is important to estimate the total number of milligrams of silver in a dose and the total number of milligrams consumed over the course of treatment.

Here is a summary of reference points to work from:

• One tsp contains 5 ml of liquid.
• One PPM concentration is the same as 1 milligram (mg) per liter.
• (Example: 10 PPM colloidal silver contains 10 mg of silver in one liter of liquid.)
• (Example: One tsp of 10 PPM colloidal silver contains 50 micrograms of silver.)
• The EPA reference dose for a 160 pound adult (the average amount consumed per day in food and water) is 364 micrograms per day.
• The EPA critical dose for a 160 pound adult (the amount that should not be exceeded in daily consumption) is 1.09 milligrams per day.
• The EPA proposed limit for silver in drinking water is: 0.1 mg per liter (0.1 PPM).
• The average person consumes approximately 90 mcg of silver per day in their food.
• References (8) and (70) suggest that the estimated total dosage of mild silver protein required to treat serious infections such as LYME disease is: Approximately 18 to 90 milligrams of silver over the period of one month.
• The estimated accumulated dosage required to produce argyria is approximately one to six grams of silver, depending on the reference cited. Some references state as high as 50 grams. (1)(62)
• The estimated single dose lethal quantity of silver is approximately ten grams of silver. (Note: This estimate is for silver nitrate which is much more toxic than colloidal silver.) (56)

While colloidal silver has been injected intramuscularly and intravenously, the most common method of administration is orally. Li and Zhu (136) have demonstrated that nanoparticle silver reacts readily with hydrochloric acid. This is in contrast to the fact that metallic silver does not react readily with hydrochloric acid. We can, therefore, assume that the colloidal silver that is swallowed is converted to silver chloride by the hydrochloric acid in the stomach. When the stomach contents are emptied into the intestines, they are combined with bicarbonate which neutralizes the stomach acid and converts the medium from acid to alkaline. This would cause the silver chloride to precipitate, probably into a colloidal form.

It has not been clearly established how much colloidal silver enters the blood as silver particles and how much has been converted into chloride or protein bound forms.

Argyria

Most of the medical literature states that the only adverse effect of excess consumption of silver or silver products is a condition called argyria. Argyria is characterized by gray to gray-black staining of the skin and mucous membranes produced by silver deposition. This coloration is permanent. Most authorities state that argyria is disfiguring because of the discoloration of the skin but has no other harmful consequences. Hill and Pillsbury note in their 1939 book Argyria, "A striking feature of argyria is the absence of any evidence that the deposits of silver produce any significant physiologic disturbance of the involved organs or tissue.... Aside from the pigment deposit, the gross and microscopic appearance of the involved tissues is normal. Argyria is, therefore, of significance only from the standpoint of cosmetic appearance." (1) Hill and Pillsbury could only find 239 reported cases of argyria by 1939. At this time, silver had been in widespread use for over four decades. Most of the cases involved chronic use ranging from 3 to 25 years. Over half of the cases were associated with silver nitrate usage. Even so, they concluded that even with silver nitrate "the danger of argyria is very slight if the total amount injested by mouth is below six grams." (1) It is estimated that, in recent years, many thousands of individuals have consumed colloidal silver products with no adverse effects or indications of argyria. There have been, however, a very small number of cases and they have achieved notoriety.

One well publicized example is the case of Rosemary Jacobs. Rosemary's case was reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 340:1554 May 20, 1999 Number 20. The journal states, "A 56-year-old woman has had discolored skin since the age of 14. At the age of 11, the patient was given nose drops of unknown composition for 'allergies' and three years later her skin turned gray." Silver nitrate nose drops were commonly prescribed in that era. Over half of the cases of argyria documented in the early 1900's were associated with silver nitrate use. (1) Silver nitrate is a caustic silver salt. It is not colloidal silver.

You can read Rosemary Jacob's story at:

http://rosemaryjacobs.com/.

Another well publicized case of more recent vintage is that of Stan Jones. Stan Jones is a politician from Montana who acquired the condition of argyria by consuming extremely high quantities of a home-made colloidal silver. Stan brewed his home-made colloidal silver by using tap water and salt with a battery powered colloidal silver generator. He drank eight ounces or more of this product containing an unknown concentration of silver daily for at least two years. (102) This is far in excess of quantities that are usually used for therapeutic purposes. His source was also of dubious quality.

There have been additional recent cases of argyria reported. While the data is sketchy, it appears that there may be a half dozen or so cases reported. Fortunately, the number is extremely small compared to the number of individuals using silver products. It appears that those afflicted with argyria of recent origin used doses grossly in excess of amounts indicated for therapeutic effects. It also appears that they likely used products of unknown and questionable composition. They also consumed the substance over a long period of time, often years. Argyria from silver overdose is avoidable with good information, reliable silver products, and due diligence.

The amount of silver that must be consumed to cause argyria is not well understood. The risk factors for developing argyria depend on the dose of the silver product, the type of silver product, the duration of exposure, the route of exposure (i.e., ingestion, inhalation, or skin contact), and on the exposed individual's physiology and health.

There are reports that argyria has occurred in adults who were given 900 mg of silver orally over a period of one year. (1) There are also cases in the literature where 6.0 grams of silver nitrate administered orally and 6.3 grams of silver arsphenamine administered intramuscularly were known to produce argyria. (1) Another study estimated the minimal oral dose for producing argyria to be 25 to 50 grams taken over a 6 month period. (62) A single fatal dose is estimated to be 10 grams, although recovery from larger doses has been reported. (Note: This 10 gram figure is for silver nitrate which is significantly more toxic than colloidal silver.) (56)

Using the most conservative figure, 900 milligrams of silver corresponds to the silver content in 90 liters of 10 PPM colloidal silver. These doses are very large compared to the doses usually consumed by individuals using over the counter health food store colloidal silver products. Even with these quantities, risk of toxicity may be reduced by spreading the intake out over a period of time to allow the excretion mechanisms to keep up with intake.