People have known for centuries that silver kills germs, but only recently have scientists discovered how the white metal does its work.

 One question that has eluded scientists is why silver is harmful to bacteria but doesn’t hurt humans. Albert T. McManus former Chief of Microbiology, USA Institute of Surgical Research at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, says that silver interrupts a bacteria cell’s ability to form chemical bonds essential to its survival. These bonds are integral to the cell’s physical structure, so bacteria in the presence of silver essentially falls apart. Cells in humans and other animals have thick walls and are not disturbed by silver.

This feature of silver may be the answer to the overuse of antibiotics which is causing strains of microbes resistant to drugs. Studies conducted over decades at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York, show that even at less than one part per billion in pure water, silver disrupts bacteria cells permanently. Antibiotics, on the other hand, like penicillin, are bacteriostatic — they temporarily stop the growth of bacteria. This action is faster than that of silver, but when the drugs cease their attachment to the bacteria, the bacteria reactivates and becomes resistant to the drug.

Using powerful electron microscopes, scientists at Tsinguha University in Beijing, China, can actually see silver react with bacteria. Using a common E. coli bacterium -- often the culprit in food poisoning -- researchers can watch silver destroy the cell wall and alter the nucleus, or center of the cell.

Consultancy DisplaySearch estimates that worldwide sales of 2002 flat panel TV displays will reach 1.82 million units, possibly doubling in 2003 as more consumers replace their older TV sets. Manufacturers are mum on the amount of silver used in flat panel displays, but estimates peg this at an average of one gram per unit, which could consume 113,000 ounces in 2003. Electrical and electronic applications consumed 132.5 million ounces of silver in 2001.

Eliminating bacteria is only part of silver’s action. Silver also heals wounds, which is why it is being used on gauze bandages and hospital dressings. According to studies conducted by R.O. Becker, M.D., Upstate Medical Center, University of Syracuse, Syracuse, New York, silver ions turn mature cells into stem (starter) cells which foster the rate of reconstruction of lost and damaged cells. He observed that especially when driven by a small electric current, wounds touched by silver ions produced large numbers of stem cells. No other known technique is capable of producing this effect.

This procedure has been in practical clinical use over two decades and has achieved restorations ranging from replacement of finger tips, including the original fingerprint, to severe hand-palm wounds restored to its original condition, including nerves.

Silver News - Fourth Quarter 2003 Samuel Etris, Senior Technical Consultant to The Silver Institute