Silver - The Dark Side of a New Health Craze

Ads for it litter the Internet and alternative health magazines. "Phyto-silver" (such as in the product previously sold by Seasilver USA until the Federal Trade Commission cracked down on them in June, 2003), colloidal silver, metallic silver, and silver salts are being promoted as the new germ-killing regimen. These writers and silver manufacturers cite hundreds or even thousands of years of "safe use" of silver for fighting germs and enhancing health. "Seasilver" was sold by a "multi-level marketing" (MLM) organization, so that the claims of efficacy were magnified by thousands of people who really wanted to believe in what they are selling to their friends and neighbors.

Silver is toxic!

But for more than 40 years we have known that silver is a hard, proven carcinogen - a cancer-causing agent. Metallic silver is listed in the 1979 Registry of Toxic Effects as causing cancer in animals. Claims that it is safe have come primarily from the companies that make silver products - hardly a trustworthy source of unbiased information. Silver in any form is a bio-accumulative toxic heavy metal, like mercury, lead, and arsenic. Its action as an antibiotic comes from the fact that it is a non-selective toxic "biocide."

It is known - and acknowledged - that long-term use of colloidal silver or silver salts deposits metallic silver under the skin, turning people's skin an ashen-gray color, an affliction known as argyria (see reference below). Argyria is considered permanent. This is precisely the circumstance in which silver was a cancer-causing agent - implanted into the skin of animals it caused cancerous lesions. It also accumulates in internal organs, continually exposing the cells of those organs to silver, wreaking unknown havoc, and it is likely that it actually interferes with the body's normal immune processes.

The former manufacturer of one of these products - Seasilver - actually claimed at the time that silver is an "essential" nutrient. This was an outright falsehood. The human body has no need or use for silver. The health claims made by the company - that it was an effective treatment for 650 different health problems - were so outrageous that they received a "cease and desist" order from the Federal Trade Commission in June, 2003, and now the company, allegedly "reconstituted," sells an innocuous product made from Aloe Vera, fruit juices, Pau D'Arco Extract, and some obscure sea herbs.

Silver as a historical antibiotic

Silver was used through the ages as a germ-killing agent because at those times they had few other choices. There were no antibiotics, and no natural germ-fighters had been discovered. Because people in general did not know that it was important to take large amounts of vitamin C (most people still don't), their immune systems were severely compromised for much of their lives. Thus silver was considered a life-saving medicine. Silver nitrate drops were used to prevent eye infections in newborns, for instance.

Silver was (appropriately) essentially dropped from use in the U.S. with the introduction of antibiotics and biochemical antiseptics, but suddenly gained popularity again in the 1990s. The FDA proposed banning silver in over-the-counter products in 1997, and issued a final rule in 1999, but never acted on it.

The silver manufacturers claim that they are not subject to any federal laws about safety because silver was used before the Food and Drug Act - that they are grandfathered. Of course this begs the question: so were lead and mercury preparations and many other extremely toxic "medicines" that have since been banned from commerce.

Silver has no purpose in the human body

Silver is not used in any known physiological process in the human body. It is treated by the body as a toxic heavy metal, chelated and removed extremely slowly by proteins called metallothioneins. This removal process can easily be overwhelmed, leading to argyria. Silver has an affinity to cell membranes, including those of nerve cells, where it deposits permanently as silver sulfide. This is a typical pattern of heavy metal toxicity.

Colloidal Silver proponents claim their product is safe

The people who promote colloidal silver claim their products are safe because their silver is "different." The people who promote silver proteins and metallic silver say the same thing about their products. Think about these claims in the context of the previous paragraph. Whether the silver enters the body as a colloid in suspension or as metallic silver or as integrated into a protein, the human body treats it the same way - as a foreign object made of a toxic heavy metal - and the removal process is the same.

Silver is unnecessary

To put this debate more in perspective, even if it were safe, silver is also completely unnecessary. If people were to take sufficient vitamin C and other immune support nutrients, their immune systems would be strong enough to fight off most bacterial and viral attacks. People who take large quantities of vitamin C each day rarely get ill, and when they do the course of the illness is much shorter and milder. For extremely virulent diseases, there are much more powerful, potent, and less expensive natural antibiotics and anti-viral agents that are completely safe that are derived from food and medicinal herbs.

Green tea extract, turmeric extract, oregano oil, and olive leaf extract are good examples of natural antibiotics that also have other, health-promoting features. Both green tea extract and turmeric extract are also potent selective chemotherapeutic agents for cancer - they cause cancer cells to self-destruct - and they are also powerful anti-inflammatory aids. Oregano oil and olive leaf extract have been shown to effectively kill pathogenic bacteria, viruses, funguses, and protozoa such as malaria, and there is anecdotal evidence that they kill AIDS viruses.

This is one of the few times when I believe the government should act to ban a health "supplement." Silver is fine for coins and jewelry (although for earrings it should have a stainless steel hook for pierced ears). But silver compounds should not be sold in products that people consume. I believe silver is a clear and present danger to anyone who consumes it. Furthermore, having this "supplement" available provides ammunition for the drug companies and other anti-natural supplement forces for full FDA regulation of supplements, which would kill the entire natural supplement industry.

References:

Cutis 2000 Nov;66(5):373-4 Abstract quote

The onset of argyria following the use of dietary supplements containing colloidal silver protein is presented. The patient was using a silver-containing product for cold and allergy prophylaxis.

We review the past and present medicinal roles of silver and include a differential diagnosis for argyria. The hyperpigmentation of argyria is usually permanent, and it follows a sun-exposed distribution.

Dietl HW, Anzil AP, Mehraein P., Brain involvement in generalized argyria,  Clinical Neuropathology 1984 Jan-Feb;3(1):32-6

Cutaneous argyria was diagnosed in a 59-year-old woman. Manic depressive psychosis developed at about the same or a short time thereafter. The patient died 6 years later from a ruptured aortic aneurysm. At autopsy silver deposits were seen in skin, mucous membranes, heart, kidney, and liver. In the central nervous system the leptomeninges and choroid plexuses contained silver granules.

FDA Final Ruling, 1999

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Food and Drug Administration
21 CFR Part 310
[Docket No. 96N-0144]
Over-the-Counter Drug Products Containing Colloidal Silver Ingredients or Silver Salts
AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is issuing a final rule establishing that all over-the-counter (OTC) drug products containing colloidal silver ingredients or silver salts for internal or external use are not generally recognized as safe and effective and are misbranded. FDA is issuing this final rule because many OTC drug products containing colloidal silver ingredients or silver salts are being marketed for numerous serious disease conditions and FDA is not aware of any substantial scientific evidence that supports the use of OTC colloidal silver ingredients or silver salts for these disease conditions.
DATES: This regulation is effective September 16, 1999.

FTC Crackdown on SeaSilver USA: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/06/seasilver.htm

Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances, 1979 Edition, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH. (Includes citations of carcinogenicity.)

Westhofen M, Schafer H., Generalized argyrosis in man: neurotological, ultrastructural and X-ray microanalytical findings.", Arch Otorhinolaryngol 1986;243(4):260-4

Our findings indicate that the affinity of silver for membrane and neuronal structures and the deposition of silver as an insoluble compound (Ag2S) induce the progression of clinical disease.