Silver ion health issue?

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Are there any damages to human health due to the use of silver ions in water treatment?

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3 Answers

  1. Silver is not very safe material. 50-100 ppb is maximum allowed limit for drinking water in some countries. Ag-containing filter sometimes also are infected by bacteria. And the worst part is confidence  of many people in "magic" properties of Ag, so it can lead to underestimating of risks.

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  2. Good Afternoon Maram,

    Using silver as a "bacteriastat" has been around for hundreds of years.  When silversmiths first put water into silver chalices and silver pitchers, they learned that bacteria would not readily form.   The settlers traveling from the east coast of the U.S. to unknown lands in the west dropped their silverware into the water barrels on their Conestoga wagons to help preserve water.  You may know of silver impregnated GAC filters and there are swimming pools using silver copper electrodes for discharging these heavy metals into water.

    Silver is leached into the water, it coats the bug, and it either dies or is prevented from replicating.  Note the term "bacteria'stat' ".  The stat means that if there are 50 bugs passing through a filter you get 50 out...not 51.  The EPA limitation for silver leaching is 50 ppb .  Back in the '70's, a company produced a silver impregnated GAC filter that leached heavy concentrations of silver.  The Client's sclera (white part of the eye) and pink portions under the fingernail turned slate blue.  This heavy metaled disease caused by silver is called argyria.

    Aquathin produces group of filters with "encapsulated silver ion"  into the filtration media for antimicrobial treatment.  It is extremely effective including destruction of cholera.  These filters have been extensively used in rural Sub-Sahara and Caribbean for 20 years.  Because of the method of integration and encapsulating, silver ion is not leached.

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  3. Silver is used in some home treatment devices to reduce microbial growth on the media but NOT to disinfect the water. It is a marginal and very slow acting bacteriostat or bacteriocide for some microbes. . Some of those devices can cause silver to leach into the drinking water. The permissible limit is 100 ppb. Silver is not very toxic. It would require log term exposure to produce argyria, which is significant  darkening of the skin due to silver sulfide deposition. It is a permanent effect. See the WHO guideline discussion.

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