Colloidal silver. Alternative medicine made from very fine (possibly ionic) silver particles in suspension in water. Many of the claims made for colloidal silver are straight from the New Age Movement. Colloidal silver is very often marketed as having no side effects. Actually there are no proven health benefits to taking colloidal silver and it provides no help to the body's immune system, but partakers risk a serious side effect called argyria (from argentum, Latin for silver), a condition in which a person's skin takes on a bluish-silver colouration. The discolouring is permanent and while apparently not harmful in itself, it wreaks havoc with a sufferer's social life. Rosemary Jacobs is one American argyria sufferer who has been living with the condition for approximately 50 years. See also Quackwatch's Colloidal Silver: Risk Without Benefit by Stephen Barrett, MD.

Some promotors of colloidal silver claim that silver is an essential trace element and that even a small amount can fend off disease and prevent serious illness. The truth is that it is not essential (see What does the human body use silver for?) and the human body normally contains about 0.25 to 0.5 grams of silver anyway. Silver is a heavy metal and is not easily eliminated or passed out of the body, but instead builds up over time in the skin and internal organs (including the brain). The amount of extra silver (ingested by drinking colloidal silver) required to produce argyria may be as little as 1 gram. It can take as little as a week of silver ingestion to produce discolouring, noticeable as little as a month later. In its colloidal silver article Wikipedia says "Advocates of colloidal silver ... assert that, under careful use of properly produced colloidal silver, argyria is virtually impossible. These claims are anecdotal, and have not yet been confirmed or refuted by scientific study."

Colloidal silver is illegal in Canada and under laws covering alternative medicines may not be sold in the USA (since 1999) or Australia (since 2002) if any unproven health benefits (therapeutic benefits) are claimed for it. In New Zealand colloidal silver is legal to be sold without prescription only if less than 10ppm (parts per million), however the ESR has tested samples of New Zealand colloidal silver and found they exceeded this legal limit. For more information read the health warning from a Waikato University chemist, or student researcher Christine Traversi's Miracle Elixir or Plague of the Living Dead?

This news article lists some of the side effects of colloidal silver consumption:

There are many side effects. Yes, one of the listed side effects is blue skin. This side effect is called angyria. Angryria is an irreversible condition that causes skin, nails, and gums to turn a blue-gray color.

There are many other side effects such as seizures, kidney damage, indigestion, headaches, fatigue, and skin irritation.

An interesting article titled Systemic argyria associated with ingestion of colloidal silver explains several medical conditions resulting from silver exposure, including the most common ocular argyrosis (argyria of the eyes), argyria, and intestinal ulcers, with higher doses of colloidal silver possibly causing coma, pleural oedema, hemolysis, is toxic to bone marrow and may be associated with agranulocytosis. (The article also explains that higher amounts of silver may result in death, cellular necrosis, and damage of the central nervous system and cardiac conduction system.) It concludes (emphasis added):

In the early 1900s argyria was seen more commonly because it was associated with silver being used in various medications. However, with an increasing number of reports of problems associated with silver ingestion (including intestinal ulcers and argyria) and with the development of more effective pharmacologic alternatives, physician-directed use of silver-containing products declined. The official drug guidebooks (United States Pharmacopeia and National Formulary) have not listed colloidal silver products since 1975. On the basis of its studies, the FDA concluded that the risk of using silver products exceeds any currently understood benefits; in August 1999 FDA issued its final ruling to ban the use of colloidal silver or silver salts in over-the-counter products.

As we begin a new century with the increased interest in food supplements, alternative medicine, and the availability of information over the Internet, argyria may again be seen more frequently. Also, the FDA ruling did not apply to products being marketed as dietary supplements, and some health-food manufacturers promote colloidal-silver products as a cure-alls. With the proliferation of the Internet, it has become much easier for these manufacturers to market their products to consumers using claims of effectiveness against major illnesses such as AIDS, cancer, arthritis, and infectious diseases.

The claims of effectiveness, of course, are quite bogus. Any improvement at all in patient condition can easily be attributed to the placebo effect. Those alternative people looking for a "natural" anti-bacterial/anti-microbial agent should probably stick (no pun intended) to New Zealand honey instead, preferrably after consultation with a doctor. But as for colloidal silver, with known serious side effects and nothing going for it, it well deserves its Danger rating.

	Danger: The group/person or belief/practice is considered dangerous due to mind control or particularly bad doctrine. These groups (or people) have a strong tendency to damage their members/followers.
	Hot Topic: The group/person or belief/practice has recently featured in the secular news media, has generated notable correspondence, is a popular conversation topic, etc. Note that this rating has nothing to do with the "cultishness" of a group.

Printed on 20 January 2021 at www.cults.co.nz.
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