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Colloidal Silver

As the EPA studies show, the estimated amount of silver intake in order to be at risk for Argyria is 3.8 ( to six ) grams of silver, although some references site higher than 10 grams.

One teaspoon of 5 ppm colloidal silver contains about 25 micrograms of silver, or .025 milligrams of silver. Six teaspoons, the equivalent of one fluid ounce, therefore contains .15 milligrams of silver. The EPA's critical dose for a 160 lb. adult is 1.09 milligrams daily. Taking one ounce of colloidal silver daily, according to EPA guidelines, is well below the critical daily intake for the development of argyria. Four ounces daily would equal around .6 milligrams.

However, all of this is dependent upon the body's actual retention of colloidal silver in body tissues. There is no existing data which addresses the very real differences between isolated ionic silver ( and particles sized .0003 - .05 microns in diameter), and silver compounds ( silver nitrate, silver arsphenamine , silver proteins, silver salts, silver acetate, etc. ).

Can a risk assessment for argyria based on high strength ionic silver compounds be applied to low PPM isolated silver solutions and colloidal silver? This is unknown, but not very likely.

There is accumulating evidence which strongly suggests that neither low PPM isolated ionic silver nor minutely sized silver particles build up in the body at the same rate indicated by the compound study data. Many researchers have traditionally been unable to explain the exact risk elements associated with silver toxicity-- why one individual is at risk for argyria and why another is no, when the amount of silver ingested is the same. As some of the research data shows, however, a selenium deficiency may be a determining factor.

If selenium and other dietary factors are the sole determining factor in the risks associated with argyria (aside from obvious massive overdoses ), then dose quantities, frequency of use, and actual silver concentration become of paramount importance in gauging risk. If dietary intake and systemic availability of needed substances exceed those required as a part of silver elimination in the body, then the accumulation of silver in the body will not be comparable to the high potency compound products, and thus the risk of argyria will not be equal.

Evidence presented in one study case conducted by Roger Altman lends credence to the idea that silver accumulation via oral use of an isolated colloidal silver product does not always occur. Needless to say, though, much further work needs to be done on the subject for definative answers.

Some researchers believe that build up of silver in the body is caused exclusively by the concentration of silver ingested, irrespective of the actual form of silver. Therefore, it would not likely matter whether one took a silver protein that contained one milligram of silver or one milligram of silver nitrate - the risk for argyria, whatever that may or may not be, would be the same.

However, we do not believe this to be the case. We do not believe that the body itself responds the same to silver compounds as it does to isolated silver. Data inferred from the above studies indicate a wide variance in the amount of silver deposited in those whom have never taken a colloidal silver product. It is extremely unlikely that ANY of the people studied ( outside of silver-rich industrial conditions ) would have ingested large amounts of silver at any given time, and yet the variance in accumulation in body tissues infers that there are other factors involved in accumulation.

While it is our conclusion after four years of study that the risk of Argyria from the use of a quality isolated colloidal silver product is negligable, prudence suggests that actual silver intake be kept below 1.09 milligrams daily until scientific evidence demonstrates otherwise.

This figure is based on the EPA RFD of .005 mg/kg of body weight, based on the average adult.

In the event that greater doses are required for long term treatments, dietary measures to augment the body's elimination system are likely a good idea, including Selenium and Vitamin E supplementation and proper hydration of the body. Measurement of silver accumulation in the body every six months would also be a prudent and revealing measure. Considering the actual silver content per dose, the development of argyria would only occur over a long period of time with unnecessarily large amounts of colloidal silver used daily. Even the most conservative estimates would put the time frame in excess of three years.

The FDA Takes Action

On September 16, 1999, The FDA issued a final ruling on any and all colloidal silver products. With a brisk pen-stroke invoking the FDA's broad power, the ruling proclaimed and entered into law that any silver substance in a gelatinous solution could not be sold as a medicinal substance. The ruling categorized colloidal silver as an unclassified drug. Any colloidal silver products marketed as having medicinal properties are now in violation of federal law.

However, due to the fact that silver is both a natural substance AND not a controlled substance, it is still protected under the The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. Under this law, any labeling and/or advertising referring to any health benefits of the substance in question is unlawful. The substance must be labeled as a dietary supplement and may NOT be marketed for external use.

The innocent bystander might assume that the FDA took this action based on collected research data that demonstrates that colloidal silver is a harmful substance, and thus the public should be protected from its use. HOWEVER, this is not the case. The following letter, written by the FDA in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act, clearly shows that the FDA's action to ban colloidal silver sales was NOT motivated by ANY data suggesting harm.

Language that the FDA and FTC use is usually very ambiguous. At least three classifications of silver products are truly required to accurately cover the wide range of silver products in use today. The FDA would truly be doing a public service if it established three separate classifications, and prioritized their actions based on scientifically available evidence on safety:

1) Silver compounds known to be toxic - classified as not generally regarded as safe, retaining the unclassified drug status.

2) Mild silver proteins, silver proteins, various silver compounds ( the ones which have adequately been researched ) and solutions with more than 50 ppm silver content - classified as "no information that establishes these products as safe", retaining the unclassified drug status.

3) Isolated silver products, meaning ionic and particulate silver in isolated form, between 1 and 50 PPM, in distilled water in colloidal ( and/or ionic ) form - classified as GRAS ( Generally Regarded as Safe ) with the unclassified drug status REMOVED.

The FDA likes to argue that there are no USP standards for production. This can be settled in very short order to varying degrees of excellence based on currently available studies endorsed by the EPA.

None of these efforts would change the reality of the law or allow companies to make unsubstantiated medical claims about products. What it WOULD do, however, is deprioritize the critical attention of isolated silver products and properly focus the energy involved in law enforcement.

After all, scientifically, silver is no more a drug in the body than simple H2O. By the letter of the law, if I say "H2O cures dehydration" I am making a drug claim.

The Stan Jones argyria case has recently received an enormous amount of press coverage. Stan Jones is a charming and very mild tempered politician from Montana, who acquired the condition of argyria by consuming extremely high quantities of a very poorly made colloidal silver.

What the AP Press release doesn't tell the general public, is that Stan brewed his home-made colloidal silver by using tap water and salt with a battery colloidal silver generator, and let his generator run for an hour, which not only produced an abundance of silver chloride, but also produced larger particles of silver due to agglomeration caused by a runaway electrolysis reaction. He drank eight ounces or more of this product containing an extremely high concentration of silver daily for at least two years.

An example of a batch of colloidal silver made with "quality" spring water and a "dash" of salt, is silver chloride.

Mild silver protein and silver salts are not true colloidal silver.

High concentrations of silver taken over a prolonged period of time can cause the body to deplete its supply of selenium, thereby dramatically increasing the risk for argyria -- or should we say lowering the body's threshold for total amount of silver ingested required to be at risk for argyria.

Therefore, it is quite possible, and even quite likely according to available research, that an individual can use 2 ounces of 10 PPM silver daily for fifty years and not incur any risk for argyria, and yet the same individual with a predisposition to the condition could take two ounces of a high PPM product, or eight ounces of an extremely poorly made product rich with silver chloride, metallic silver, and large agglomerated particles, and develop Argyria in anywhere between a few short years and several decades, when the product is used regularly.

Regardless, there is also a cure for Argyria through chelation therapy.

Apply the mind and sound judgement to any given situation, and be cautious of those with an emotional or economic interest in silver products, or the elimination of them. Jumping to conclusions, we have found, is rarely wise, and the diligent researcher can wade through the confusion to find a very satisfactory answer to the argyria concern that may one day prove to have life-saving value.

SILVER

EVALUATION FOR ACCEPTABLE DAILY INTAKE

BIOLOGICAL DATA

BIOCHEMICAL ASPECTS

Silver does not occur regularly in animal and human tissues but is present in man's environment in air, water, soils and food as well as in specific products. In some marine species silver tends to accumulate in soft tissue. The shells and soft tissues of approximately 50 oysters (Crassostrea virginica Gmelin) analysed were for silver and other elements. The oysters were collected from 10 stations of various salinity ranges along the Georgia coast. Analysis was carried out by atomic absorption spectrophotometrically. The precision of the analysis was about ±5. Silver was below detectability in the shells (i.e. below 1 ppm) while the soft tissues was 28-82 (±10-20) ppm (Casarett and Doull, 1975; Windom and Smith, 1972).

Silver can be absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract. Retention is apparently greatest in the reticulo-endothelial organs. After intravenous injection the concentrations were present in decreasing order in spleen, liver, bone marrow, lungs, muscle and skin (Browning, 1969).

Various studies and clinical observations indicate that silver salts can be absorbed from the lungs, gastrointestinal tract and such insured epithelia as nasal mucosa, conjunctiva, and skin. Absorbed silver is then stored in the reticulo-endothelial cells of the skin, mucous membranes, liver, spleen, possibly bone marrow, in basement membranes, especially those of the renal glomerulus, and presumably in muscles (Ham and Tangue, 1972; Kanai et al., 1976; Bader, 1966; Anderson, 1966; Voldrich et al., 1975).

Radiosilver (110mAg) administration to mice, rats, monkeys and dogs by oral intravenous and intraperitoneal routes was excreted for more than 90% in the faeces, 90% or more of oral doses were not absorbed. Whole body retention in mice, rats and monkeys was less than 1% of the initial dose after one week. In the same period less than 10% was retained in dogs (Fnrchner et al., 1968).

The major route of excretion is via the gastrointestinal tract, predominantly through desquamation of silver containing cells of the alimentary tract. Urinary excretion has not been reported to occur even after intravenous injection (Casarett and Doull, 1975; Kent and Mc Cance, 1941) [ according to a single study done by Roger Altman, almost 75% of orally consumed, isolated silver was eliminated via urine ]. It seems that even mild degrees of liver damage considerably impair the ability of the liver to excrete quite small doses of silver (Petering, 1976) [ we are aware of several individuals with greatly compromised livers ( Hep C. ) who have been using isolated silver products for several years with no signs of silver toxicity ]. Unlike lead or mercury there is no evidence that silver is a cumulative poison (Petering, 1976).

No information was obtained on the biotransformation of silver in the animal body except that absorbed ionic silver is transformed into metallic while being deposited in tissues (Petering, 1976) [ all of Petering's ionic silver studies were done using large amounts of stabilized ionic silver ].

Numerous enzymes were inhibited in vitro by silver ions. High affinity to sulfhydryl and histidine imidazole groups was observed. Silver ions compete with molecular oxygen as a hydrogen acceptor, resulting in the inhibition of glucose oxydase (Nakamura and Ogura, 1968) [ not likely a real issue unless extremely large amounts of silver are present in the body; this study is useless in that it does not address any of the natural conditions of the body, being a test tube experiment ].

Protargol, a silver-protein complex containing 8% silver inhibited the in vitro prostaglandin E2 synthesis by bull geminal vesicles even at concentrations of 10-7M (Deby et al., 1973).

Glutathione peroxydase activity in the liver of rats treated with 76 and 751 ppm silver (as silver acetate) for seven weeks was respectively 30% and 4% of the control values (Swanson et al., 1974).

After a single s.c. injection (3 mg silver/kg bw) AgNO3 [ silver nitrate ] induced the synthesis of a low molecular weight protein in the liver of rats, with the characteristics of metallothionein induced by cadmium, zinc or mercury salts (Winge et al., 1975).

Silver ion is a very toxic substance when viewed from the standpoint of its action of an inhibitor of enzymes and as a metabolic inhibitor of lower forms of life. Biochemically, the silver ion (Ag+) can act as potent enzyme inhibitor (Chambers et al., 1974). It has been reported (Wagner et al., 1975) that in vitro administration of silver dramatically decreased liver glutathione peroxidase in rats fed Se-supplemented diets with or without vitamin E. It seems therefore that silver acetate exerts its antagonistic effects on Se (silver induces Se deficiency signs) through an effect on the activity of biosynthesis of glutathione peroxidase [ interesting correlation, although silver acetate is likely little better than silver nitrate, and we would use neither anywhere near the human body ].

Much of the biologic action of silver can be attributed to the reaction of silver ion with sulfhydryl groups to produce stable silver mercaptide (Petering, 1976).

All Content Copyright 2005 AVRA unless otherwise specified.
 
  WNCGirl on 2006-03-22
This is just a forum. Assume posts are not from medical professionals.
You should have a word with Kuldeep -- he was into colloidal silver.
 
walkin last decade
Was - as in not anymore?
 
WNCGirl last decade
Argyria results from prolonged contact with or ingestion of silver salts. Argyria is characterized by gray to gray-black staining of the skin and mucous membranes produced by silver deposition. Silver may be deposited in the skin either from industrial exposure or as a result of medications containing silver salts.

Or one can read the chapter Argentum Nitricum in material medica.

I have resolved some die hard infection cases with homemade colloidal silver solution. It is dilute and safe. There is no need to use it for prolonged time.
 
kuldeep last decade
Thank you for your input Kuldeep.

I have read information regarding any case of Argyria has not resulted from true colloidal silver, but from compounds/stablizers used with it or for production.

I bought a generator to produce without salt using distlled water and am using small doses for myself and children when we visit or are around sick people/ germs as a preventive.

I have also given "samples" to friends that have succesfully used it for - an ear infection for a two-year old that allopathic antibiotics couldn't touch for a month and the doctors were considering surgical methods.

Also the same mother used it for her's and her new infant's thrush. They were continously passing it back and forth and got no relief from Nystatin.

The CS cleared it up in a couple of days and it hasn't returned. I also gave a sample to another whose child isn't getting over strep with antibiotics and am waiting to hear results. Nature is a wonder.
 
WNCGirl last decade
Silver is the surest and biggest antiseptic even this day. Topical 'Silver Sulfadiazine' ointment is number one antiseptic cream even today but it is on the expansive side (anyway my first choice for the wounds).

Its principal is that it releases Silver Ion on the surface and Silver Ion kill microbes.
 
kuldeep last decade
Colloidal Silver Solution can be made by passing about 30 Volt AC or DC between two pure silver pieces hanging in water till one sees some hanging colloids around electrodes.
 
kuldeep last decade
That is what the generator and silver rods I purchased does. It is a small generator with an adaptor but holds the current constant and keeps the rods evenly spaced. Pretty neat to watch and then test the Tyndall Effect (sp?). What I have is supposed to make between 3-5 ppm. I put it in little glass amber bottles with glass droppers and put a spray nozzle on it when I want to use topically.
 
WNCGirl last decade
Well I devised my own appratus because I had to treat a multitude of poor people for free. (30 patients per hour).
 
kuldeep last decade
I wish I had known how before I bought one. I do now, but I'm a day late and dollar short. What I bought was around $100. Now that I know how little it costs to build, I wish I would have before the purchase. What I think I was really spending money on was the ability to hold the same current while using the adaptor, so I don't have to keep spending money on batteries.
Peace
WNCGirl
 
WNCGirl last decade
Any voltage adopter upto 30 volts would work. Even the discarder cordless phone's 9V adopter would work. Lower the voltage longer it would take to make desired solution. Even 110 volts would work but it is a bit dangerous and electrodes need to be placed far away from each other in a bucket and silveer consumption would be higher. Lower the voltage closer should be the electrodes.
 
kuldeep last decade
WNCGirl,
Well said. I too have found that any negative reports concern substances that are not pure colloidal silver but, rather, are adulterated compounds. I make my own colloidal silver with my own home made generator. Although you may have spent $100 on a purchase generator, if it keeps the wires in place during use, it is worth its weight in gold (I mean silver, lol). Mine, although it works like a charm, suffers from a problem of having to take relatively great care in wire placement because they seem unstable and, of course, if they touch, the generating stops and time's a awasted :)
 
sojoy last decade
I too purchased a generator over the internet. I have one question, does anyone know if you are supposed to clean those prongs? And if so, how?

CS is the perfect answer for any inflammation or infection. It will cure a hemorrhoid in less than 24 hours, and the same with a vaginal yeast infection. Just soak a cotton ball with it and leave in place for six minutes.

I believe the argyria problems came from using silver before it was available in colloidal or ionic doses.
 
patti3046 last decade
I use (after reading up) to clean the silver wires (I assume that is what you are referring to) with one of those abrasive sponge things, kind of like a plastic SOS pad of sorts. In fact, we picked up 'Scotch Brite' scour pads at the grocery store, 3 post card sized ones come in a pack. We reserve the one ONLY for our silver wires, as that last thing we'd want is getting soap, scum or other contaminants on our silver wires.

As for silver, I agree with your belief on when argyria (harmless but f-ugly :) has occurred. As for uses, I don't have a lot of testimonial, b/c I fortunately do not have health issues generally, but here is one thing that I used it for this past week and the results (if from the silver) were just what I was looking for: I woke up at about 2 a.m. with terrible intestinal cramps/pain, the type where you know you must have eaten something a little bad. I went to the bathroom but nothing was happening, just these very painful pains every minute or so. I decided to go downstairs and lie on the couch, where I could pop up and go to the nearby downstairs bathroom as needed without waking up the husband. Before lying down, I decided to take some cs. I took 2 swigs from my bottle and lied down. Still cramped up for the next 20-30 minutes, but then all cramping stopped (without going to the bathroom, which is the amazing part to me - I 'expelled' absolutely nothing) and I fell asleep. Never went to the bathroom. In the morning, several hours later, I did go to the bathroom, quite a bit in fact (which is great, b/c if I do have a health issue, it is that, I don't go enough and it drives me crazy!) -- but it was not due to pain, it was due to having to go :)

Thus, I think cs may be great for food poisoning (here minor, but perhaps more major also) or intestinal distress. I have always read that it was, but now got to see for myself.

Question: anyone have some advice for psoriasis? My mom has it bad on her scalp and a bit elsewhere. I gave her some cs and she took it orally, but not topically (although I suggested she do the topical thing) and she says no results. Anyone have any experiences to share?

Thanks,
sojo
 
sojoy last decade

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