excerpt taken from: http://silverinvestingnews.com/3447/use-of-silver-as-antibacterial-agent-on-the-rise.html
Silver’s Antibacterial Properties in Demand
....For centuries, humans have used silver as an antibacterial agent for medicinal and food storage purposes. Now those historical uses can be expanded upon as scientists discover the numerous benefits of ionized silver nanoparticles including ease of production, ability to be fabricated into a wide array of products, and non-toxicity to humans and mammals in general.
Some of these uses are discussed by The Silver Institute’s senior technology consultant, Jeffrey Ellis: “With increasing uses of silver in many forms including sprays, gels and coatings, the use of silver as an antimicrobial agent continues to grow not only in hospitals and other patient treatment centers, but also in public areas such as restaurants, airports and institutional buildings.”
Other use for silver include as a coating for “wall coverings, sinks, flooring, climate control ducts and on bed rails. It is also now used on stethoscopes, pens, clipboards, catheters, endotracheal tubes and on other portable items. Silver is also embedded in textiles such as gowns, masks and wound care products.”
Silver in endotracheal tubes is especially important in the medical field as it helps to protect patients that require ventilator-assisted breathing against ventilator-associated pneumonia, an illness more common than hospitals would like to admit.
Ionic silver can also be found in the latest household cleaning supplies to hit the market. PURE Bioscience, which develops products for tackling global health problems like Staph, has developed a new product branded IV-7 Ultimate Germ Defense. The non-toxic disinfectant has garnered the lowest EPA toxicity rating and contains silver dihydrogen citrate-based antimicrobials (SDC).
An increasingly important use for silver is in the treatment of stored local water supplies as a safer alternative to chlorine, which can lead to the formation of many hazardous compounds. IV-7 Water Purifier, enough to purify 40 million gallons of water, was recently donated through Project Hope to Haiti.
Silver is also increasingly being used as a deterrent to microbial growth in food packaging, which is hardly a new practice. My grandmother can remember her mother placing a silver coin at the bottom of each glass milk bottle the milkman delivered to their home, which she thought was merely superstitious, but in reality her mother was on to something. Today, silver in food packaging is becoming more and more popular, particularly in Japan, and includes paperboard cartons, plastic wrap, and yes, milk containers.
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