[horsebox]

These days antimicrobial products are being sold left, right and center and sometimes they're expensive especially when they're sold as topical antiseptics or other pharmaceutical products. Its much cheaper to make your own. Lately I've been making silver ion solutions in an electrolytic cell. This stuff seems to have strong antibacterial and antifungal properties and from what I've read it also has antiviral properties. Unlike bleach and other common antimicrobial substances, this stuff can also be used as a topical antiseptic. In pharmacies, I've only seen silver particles used in band-aids
http://www.silverlon.com/adhesive_strip.html
but theres no reason why it wouldn't work as well as iodine or IPA as an antiseptic and other areas such as treating ear infections, eye infections and other superficial infections. I've noticed that doctors sometimes prescribe silver salts as topical antibiotics and they even used to use silver nitrate to treat eye infections. I've been studying chemistry for years now but I'm still unsure of the properties of solvated ions. If I dissolved some silver nitrate in distilled waters, would the solution have similar properties to a solution containing just the silver ions, simply because there are solvated silver ions present? In other words are the properties of a dissolved salt simply a combination of the properties of the cations and anions which the salt dissociates into?

[billnotgatez]

One wonders how good a home brew of a silver compound as far as purity.

[horsebox]

I've been using 99.9% pure silver wire so I'd imagine the only significant impurities in there are silver oxide. After a few hours, a thick layer of black Ag2O forms around 1 of the electrodes. These silver ion solutions start off clear but they turn amber coloured over time. Even solutions I stored in sealed containers turned amber colour. I have no idea whats causing that colour. Probably silver oxide again.

If I was drinking this stuff I'd make sure its 99.999% pure silver I was using. There are plenty of people claiming to drink this stuff on a regular basis and it seems to be a highly controversial topic. What really has me interested is that there seems to be many doctors and others spreading disinformation about this. For example heres a quote from a so called doctor

Silver in any form is a bio-accumulative toxic metal, like mercury, lead, and arsenic. Its action as an antibiotic comes from the fact that it is a non-selective toxic "biocide."

If silver was a non-selective biocide then it would attack every cell it comes with but considering this stuff doesn't even irratate the skin or more sensitive tissue such as the eyes, it is clearly not a non-selective biocide.

Besides the disinformation, there seem to be a lot of people "warning" us about the risks of ingesting colloidal silver but when you go into what those risks are, it all boils down the 1 thing. Argyria. Besides possible adverse psychological effects of having blue skin, there is absolutely no adverse health effects associated with argyria. If I had a potentially life threatening disease I think the last thing I'd be worrying about is my skin turning blue. I'm not much into conspiracy theories but I can't help wonder why they are desparately trying to scare people away from using colloidal silver internally.

[Borek]

From what I remember, this is a controversial topic for a reason - we don't know what are long term effects. We are also not sure what the mechanism of its action against bacterial cells is. It is hard to blame those approaching it from the "better safe then sorry" side.

Historical plug: after radioactivity has been discovered, it has been advertised as a cure for everything, and you could even buy radioactive condoms.

http://www.oobject.com/category/radioactive-products/

Let it serve as a warning.

[horsebox]

From what I remember, this is a controversial topic for a reason - we don't know what are long term effects. We are also not sure what the mechanism of its action against bacterial cells is. It is hard to blame those approaching it from the "better safe then sorry" side.

Historical plug: after radioactivity has been discovered, it has been advertised as a cure for everything, and you could even buy radioactive condoms.

http://www.oobject.com/category/radioactive-products/

Let it serve as a warning.

Silver has been used as an antibiotic for hundreds of years. The only adverse effect observed is argyreia. Its harder to blame people approaching it from the "better blue than dead" side. Theres definitely a reason behind the controversy, theres no doubt about that. I've yet to see a good reason though. Even if this were a new thing, its the right of every individual to decide whether they are willing to take the risk of experimenting with an unknown like this or not. To each their own. It was unfortunate that what Marie Curie was experimenting with was something as hazardous as radioactive material but the experimentation of scientists throughout history is what paved the way to the understanding of the laws of physics we have today. Experimenting with the unknown is what science is all about.

EDIT: Its a petty they took radioactive condoms off the shelves. I don't know if there are any benefits to having a radioactive penis but it would be pretty cool.  Its pretty crazy they marketed all those radium and uranium products with absolutely no evidence in support of them having any beneficial properties in those areas. There is mass amounts of pseudoscientific bulls&$# floating about on the internet these days but anyone can test silver out for themselves and determine whether it has antimicrobial properties or not. Before sulfa and beta lactam antibiotics were discovered, colloidal silver was the main antibiotic available in pharmacies.

[Eudoxus]

Silver collects in the body, it isn't excreted or used up. It collects in the skin, and over a lifetime of usage can cause your skin to turn a dirty gray color. There was a special on Discovery about it a year or two ago.

[vmelkon]

I've been using 99.9% pure silver wire so I'd imagine the only significant impurities in there are silver oxide. After a few hours, a thick layer of black Ag2O forms around 1 of the electrodes.

What is the electrolyte that you use?
Why not just drop some silver in HNO3? It produces AgNO3.

Interesting fact : in the old days, people kept water in silver cups. So, trace amounts do the job.