Collidoidal Silver turns man's face blue

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, and develop argyria in a few short years, when the product is used daily.

There are three distinctly different types of silver that are labeled and sold on the market as “colloidal silver”; they are ionic silver, silver protein, and true colloidal silver. Consumers seeking true colloidal silver are often at a disadvantage because each of these products represents themselves as colloidal silver.

Ionic Silver Solutions
The vast majority of products labeled and sold as colloidal silver fall into this category due to the low degree of manufacturing complexity and resulting low cost of production. The silver content in these products consists of both silver ions and silver particles. Typically, 90% of the silver content is in the form of ionic silver and the remaining 10% of the silver content is in the form of silver particles. The silver ions are produced by electrolysis and may be described as “dissolved silver”. Products produced by electrolysis are frequently described as "electro colloids". Because the majority of the silver content in these products is dissolved silver rather than metallic silver particles, it would be more technically accurate to describe these products as silver solutions. 

Confusingly, ads for these products frequently claim that silver ions are small silver particles or describe the product as consisting of ionic silver particles. Silver ions are not the same as silver particles and the two terms are not interchangeable. Ionic silver is also referred to as monatomic silver and silver hydrosol by some producers who choose not to describe their products using the scientifically correct terminology. These are marketing terms used to hide the truth that what is being sold is an ionic silver solution. For more details read About Ionic Silver.

How To Tell If A Product Is Mostly Ionic Silver

Silver solutions are typically clear like water or have a slight yellow tint. These products are clear because silver that is dissolved in water looks just like sugar or salt that is dissolved in water; it has no visible appearance. The producers of ionic silver solutions will suggest that colloidal silver should look like clear water, but this is incorrect.

Companies that sell ionic silver claim that their product is "true colloidal silver" in an attempt to confuse the buyer. Do not be fooled. If the product is clear, then it is ionic silver, not a true silver colloid. Colloidal particles, when present in sufficient concentration, absorb visible light causing the colloid to exhibit an "apparent color". The apparent color is the complement of the absorbed wavelength. Silver ions do not absorb visible light and therefore appear as clear colorless liquids.

Many producers of ionic silver recommend that the product be stored only in glass containers. Some specify only amber or cobalt glass bottles because their products are photosensitive and deteriorate when exposed to light. True colloids do not have these issues.

The difference between silver ions and silver particles boils down to the fact that silver ions combine with chloride ions to form silver chloride and silver particles do not.

Safe usage

“Colloidal silver” generators sold to home hobbyists all produce ionic silver solutions. Because ionic silver products contain a low percentage of their silver content in the form of particles, they all have a fairly low particle surface area relative to the total silver content. Ionic silver is not without merit. Ionic silver is a strong anti microbial and serves well in situations where chloride is not present. When chloride is present (inside the human body), the silver particle content will survive to produce benefit.

Ionic silver products, when taken according to the manufacturers recommended dosage, will not cause argyria, a condition that causes the skin to turn blue-gray.

From the "about ionic silver" link:
Most products are ionic silver because it is cheap and very simple to make. So simple, in fact, a child can do it. All it takes to make ionic silver is a nine volt battery and some silver wire. It is simplicity in the extreme.

Commercial producers do not use a nine volt battery, but use a high voltage AC source because it makes a more stable ionic solution. The high voltage AC product is just as simple to make, but takes a little more equipment.

In either case, the process is a form of electrolysis. The electrolysis process produces mostly ionic silver, and yet it is marketed as colloidal silver. Regardless of claims made to the contrary, if the product is made by electrolysis, it is not a true colloid. By comparison a true colloid has a high concentration of particles and little or no ionic silver.

Ionic silver is not without merit. It is a strong anti microbial and serves well in situations where chloride is not present. When chloride is present, the silver particle content will survive to produce benefit.

Colloidal Silver Generators

There are dozens if not hundreds of products on the market advertised as being colloidal silver generators. Such products can be high or low voltage AC or DC and all operate by electrolysis to produce mostly silver ions and some silver nanoparticles. The ionic silver solutions produced by these generators are no less effective than the best commercial ionic silver products. If you believe the marketing hype for ionic silver from the companies on this list there is no reason that you would not want to consider using a home colloidal silver generator and save a lot of money. While the effectiveness of ionic silver is far less than a true colloidal silver product, if you are satisfied with the results obtained from using ionic silver there is no need to pay high prices for one of the commercial products when you make virtually the same thing at home for pennies. Of course the commercial producers will try to wow you with their techno-babble nonsense to convince you that their products are superior. Many commercial ionic silver products are produced using colloidal silver generators that are sold for home use.

True Colloidal Silver

To make a true colloid is a complicated, complex and costly process. It is no mystery why most producers choose to make ionic silver instead and simply call it colloidal silver. Thankfully, more consumers are educating themselves about this deception, and more and more are learning this simple test: If it looks like water, it is ionic silver, not a true silver colloid.

Silver protein products are the second most prevalent type of so-called colloidal silver products on the market. These products consist of a combination of metallic silver particles and a protein binder, and can easily be produced by simply adding water to silver protein powder sold by various chemical companies.

Most products claiming to be high concentrations of  colloidal silver (typically in the range of 30 to 20,000 ppm) are in fact silver protein colloids. While some of these products are labeled as Silver Protein or Mild Silver Protein , many such products are simply labeled as colloidal silver and the word protein does not appear anywhere on the label or in the product advertising literature.

Silver protein products generally have very large silver particles, so large that they would not remain suspended as colloidal particles without protein additives. Protein additives help to keep the large particles from settling. While various protein binders may be used, the protein most commonly used is gelatin , which is made by boiling the skin, tendons, and ligaments of animals. For large metallic silver particles to remain suspended in water, they need additional buoyancy to keep from sinking. Gelatin molecules will encapsulate each particle of silver and add enough buoyancy so that it does not sink to the bottom. The presence of gelatin creates a risk of bacteria and is one of the dangers of taking this product.

Of the three types of colloidal silver, silver protein products have the lowest particle surface area for a given silver concentration , making the silver inaccessible for safe human absorption and less effective for human use. Particle surface area, as we will cover later, is the single most important determinant of colloidal silver effectiveness.

To find out whether you have a silver protein product rather than a true silver colloid, look for these characteristics:

Makes foam: When shaken, a silver protein product produces foam above the liquid that will persist for minutes after being shaken. This is probably the single most reliable indicator. Even when the product label identifies the product simply as colloidal silver and never mentions the word protein, this indicator will signal the presence of a protein binder. Shake the bottle and look for foaming. When the foam persists, protein is present.
Concentration:   Silver protein products tend to have very high concentration values, typically in the range of 30 to 20,000 ppm. Concentration is expressed in parts per million (ppm) and is numerically the same as milligrams of silver per liter of water (mg/L).
Color: The color ranges from light amber to almost black with an increasing concentration of silver.
Dangers

Due to the high concentration of large silver particles, silver protein products are known to cause argyria, a condition that causes the skin to turn blue-gray. These and other dangers associated with silver protein are described in About Silver Protein Products.

When used as a suspension medium for silver particles, the protein polymer molecules encapsulate the silver particles so that the silver cannot kill pathogens that may grow on the outside surface of the protein sheath. This fact was discovered by Professor Ronald Gibbs when he was doing the research for his booklet "Silver Colloids, Do They Work?"

Gibbs found live bacteria growing on the protein in silver protein products. That probably should come as no great surprise since protein actually supports the growth of bacteria and fungus, and is used in laboratory agar to grow pathogens for in vitro testing. According to Professor Gibbs, adding protein to silver colloids is potentially unsafe due to the presence of live bacteria found growing on "mild silver protein" products.

This is particularly concerning because true colloidal silver has been reported to help fight infections in the lungs, sinuses, eyes and ears. However, if silver protein is used by mistake — and is inhaled into the lungs or introduced into the sinuses, ears or eyes — this could foster the growth of bacteria and fungus, causing serious infections to result. For this reason silver protein products should never be used in the sinus cavities, lungs, eyes or ears.

Normally, it would be impossible for bacteria to live in true colloidal silver because the colloidal silver itself would kill the pathogens, but it is common in products containing protein because the large protein molecules encapsulate the silver particles, preventing the silver from reaching the bacteria to in order to kill it. For this reason, Professor Gibbs recommended that silver protein products should be avoided.

Because protein fosters the growth of bacteria and fungus, silver protein
products should not be used in the sinus cavities, lungs, eyes or ears.

True colloidal silver products are the least prevalent type of colloidal silver on the market due to high degree of manufacturing complexity and the resulting high cost of production.

In true colloidal silver, the majority of the silver content is in the form of silver particles. True colloids will typically contain more than 50% particles (often 50 – 80%), while the balance (20% to 49%) will be silver ions. When referring to colloidal silver, the word colloid means silver particles.

The two critical factors to look for in determining true colloids are the percentage of silver particles and the particle surface area. 

Of all the types of silver marketed as colloidal, true colloidal silver products have the highest particle surface area. High particle surface area is achieved by a high percentage of silver particles combined with very small sized particles. Of the three types of silver on the market, true silver colloids have the highest particle surface area relative to the total silver content. The ratio of particle surface area to total silver content indicates how efficiently the colloid is able to produce particle surface area which determines effectiveness. Higher conversion efficiencies are more desirable.

The nanometer-sized particles in true silver colloids remain in colloidal suspension without requiring protein or other additives. It is the mutual repulsion of the particles created by the zeta potential charge that keeps the particles uniformly distributed in the colloid.

Determining True Silver Colloids

Because of the high concentration of silver particles, true silver colloids are never clear like water. True colloidal silver with a sufficient concentration of particles does not look like water because silver particles -- even very small particles -- block light from passing through, making the liquid appear darker.

Dangers

Due to the very low concentration of ionic silver and small particle size, true silver colloids do not cause argyria, a condition that causes the skin to turn blue-gray.

herbalhealer.com sells 500 ppm colloidal silver do you think it would be safe to use? I ask because thats the highest I've seen it anywhere by far.

Piece_ofnothing wrote:

herbalhealer.com sells 500 ppm colloidal silver do you think it would be safe to use? I ask because thats the highest I've seen it anywhere by far.

I really recommend that website above. They have a comparison chart for all the different brands that they have tested and it is really helpful.  I don't think the herbal healer brand scored very high.  There's many different links just on the one page.