Argyria
There is a general concern that the use of colloidal silver may cause a condition known as argyria. Argyria is the undesirable effect that results from ingesting an EXORBITANT AMOUNT OF IMPROPERLY PREPARED SILVER COMPOUND SOLUTION AND NOT PURE COLLOIDAL SILVER.
Argyria is a bluish-grey discoloration of the skin that occurs quite rarely after a person has ingested very large amounts, over an extended period (years), of either silver-nitrate (or some other type of silver-compound or acid-based silver preparation) or coffee-colored CS (which has very large silver particles) such as was guzzled for 14 years by “Papa Smurf” in California.
There is no evidence to associate argyria with cellular damage or altered sensory perception in the skin, and even in cases of profound discoloration, argyria is not life threatening. There have been, at the most, 15 cases of argyria worldwide in the last 60 years with people who ingested various types/forms of colloidal silver, from brownish-black home-made stuff to silver compounds.
The “Blue Man”, Paul Karason (“Papa Smurf”) of California
Paul Karason openly admitted he was making highly-concentrated solutions of colloidal silver compounds using tap water with added salt as an accelerant to boost the concentration far above normal levels. And by his own admission, he was drinking between 10 to 20 ounces per day of this highly-concentrated colloidal silver chloride solution. Indeed, he apparently did so daily for over 10 years before his facial skin began to turn blue.
So not only was his homemade colloidal silver far, far more concentrated than normal (based on the colloidal silver solution he displayed on national television, it is estimated that his colloidal silver was about 100 ppm or higher – i.e. 10x the normal concentration of 10 ppm), but he was drinking a lot of it daily for 14 years.
There are lots of people out there who have taken up to 1 to 2 liters of colloidal silver per day for 10 to 20 years, and have not developed argyria. The colloidal silver they drank were clear colloidal silver made with distilled water.
Papa Smurf was brewing for one hour one pint (500 ml) of colloidal silver with a 30-volt device using tap water, into which he had added extra salt (which will give you coffee-colored colloidal silver). He drank the whole pint of this dark, muddy colloidal silver every day for 14 years (he later admitted he wanted to turn blue to become a celebrity). But on the flip-side, he didn’t get sick once during those 14 years. He also admitted on an Oprah Winfrey interview that he also rubbed this dark, muddy coffee-coloured colloidal silver on his body.
You must go to great lengths to cause argyria (bluish skin). It’s not easy, it takes commitment, consistency and great stupidity. It’s NOT something you will accidentally cause.
Colloidal Silver Propaganda
Most media articles highlighting the dangers of colloidal silver do not give the real facts. If the mass-media intends to discredit something, it can easily do so. There are many common food items from our diet that can be lethal if taken too much. Our common table salt, if taken in large amounts, can also cause death.
Here is an article from BonAppetit.com on cyanogenic compounds in cherries, apricots, plums and peaches:
“Don’t freak out if you accidentally swallow a cherry pit—they’re rarely poisonous when eaten whole—but whatever you do, don’t eat a broken pit. Because aside from tasting really bitter and generally being impossible to chew, the stones of certain stone fruits, like cherries, apricots, plums and peaches, contain cyanogenic compounds—science talk for “stuff that your body can turn into cyanide.” So, how many cherry pits is a lethal amount of cherry pits? After some quick Googling, we found that hydrogen cyanide is lethal at about 1.52 milligrams per kilogram, meaning that it takes little more than 0.1 grams (a dime weighs about one gram) of the toxin to dispatch a 150-pound human. A single cherry yields roughly 0.17 grams of lethal cyanide per gram of seed, so depending on the size of the kernel, ingesting just one or two freshly crushed pits can lead to death.”
Too Much Silver Compounds Cause Argyria
To better understand the misconception regarding argyria, here is a quote from the book “The Micro Silver Bullet”™ by Dr. M. Paul Farber 1996 page XII (ISBN 1-887742-00-X). This quote is in reference to a “Journal of American Medical Association” article, October 18 1995, volume 274 # 15, where cases of argyria were cited to have been caused by silver compounds (not colloidal silver, but silver mixed with other metals), note:
“These case history presentations represent biased and unprofessional writing. The author’s apparent inability to understand the difference between a silver nitrate, sulfide, or other silver compound demonstrates their lack of understanding of basic chemical properties. The matrix, substrate, and particle size are all critical to the varied functions and reactions with use of these products. That is why there has not been a single case of argyria from a properly manufactured modern-day colloidal silver product. The cases of argyria reported in the 1920’s and 1930’s resulted because the technology of the day was unable to produce a pure colloidal silver product with a small enough particle size.” Ref. (4-A). The reported cases of argyria usually involved very high and frequent doses over extended periods of time of silver salts/compounds such as silver sulfate, silver nitrate, silver chloride, etc.”
The amount of silver required to develop argyria is reported to be 3.8 grams per day. By comparison, a standard 10ppm colloidal silver contains silver in amounts equaling less than 10 microgram of silver per 1 ml of solution (1,000,000 microgram is equivalent to 1 gram). As such, the amount of 10ppm colloidal silver you will need to drink in 1 day in order to take in 3.8 grams of silver would be 380 liters! Before the silver can kill you, the amount of water will!
Humans consume approximately 100 micrograms of silver every day in their diet. If a person were to take additional amounts within this range would be considered safe by all reasonable estimates, especially if the amount needed to develop argyria would be equivalent of 3,800,000 micrograms (or 3.8 grams) of silver a day.
It has been said that the silver from our diet is insufficient to help boost our immune system because of commercialization. Most of our produce these days are genetically-modified, and grown on nutrient-deficient and chemical-infused farmland, and this has resulted in vegetables having very low levels of nutrients. As such complementing our diet with a colloidal silver supplement will be beneficial.
Take Pure Colloidal Silver Prepared with Distilled Water
In conclusion, it is pretty clear that you cannot accidently overdose yourself with colloidal silver and develop argyria. It is impossible for someone to guzzle down 380 liters of colloidal silver in a day. Even if a person were to consume silver compounds, it would take very large amounts and taken for a very long period of time, before argyria sets in.
It is important that we take only well prepared colloidal silver that only contain pure silver and distilled water. Our colloidal silver concentrate contains only pure silver in distilled water. Dilute the concentrate to 10ppm before consuming.
