Bogus Claims on Silver Protein Products
The primary thrust of bogus claims made for silver protein products involves claims that only the high silver protein concentration in silver protein products can produce benefits in the human body. They promote this idea because a certain concentration of silver must be achieved in the bloodstream to be effective against pathogens. The argument put forth is that the average human body contains about 6 liters of blood, and their high concentration (values up to 20,000 ppm) products when diluted will achieve a high ppm value in the bloodstream.
From the standpoint of colloid science, this argument is completely bogus because it fails to address the fact most of the silver is “trapped inside” the huge particles found in such products. Their argument would only have validity if the silver particles somehow dissolved to release the silver uniformly though out the bloodstream. But silver particles do not dissolve inside the human body. They remain as metallic silver particles. Only the surface of those particles gets exposed to any pathogens that may be encountered in the body.
The silver content inside the particle does not affect whatsoever. The aggregate surface area of the particles, called particle surface area, determines how effectively the silver can interact inside the human body. To maximize the particle surface area requires that the silver trapped inside the particle be minimized. This is done by making smaller particles. The smaller the particles, the higher the particle surface area for a given silver concentration and the higher the effectiveness.
The Difficulty of Generating Particle Surface Area With Large Particles
The following table illustrates the problem of producing particle surface area using large size particles as found in silver protein products. Each entry in the table produces a particle surface area of 42.3 sq. cm per milli-liter of colloid. Silver protein products typically have most particles in the 1,000 to 10,000 nm range (1 – 10 microns).
PPM Required to Generate a Constant Particle Surface Area | |
Particle size (nm) | PPM Required |
1 | 10 |
10 | 100 |
100 | 1,000 |
1,000 | 10,000 |
10,000 | 100,000 |
Typical size range of particles in silver protein products
For example, the table shows that to achieve the same particle surface area produced by 10 ppm of 1 nm particles would require 10,000 ppm of 1000 nm (1 micron) particles.
Bogus Scientific Claims in Ads for Silver Protein Products
The statements highlighted in red below are from an internet ad for International Pharmaceuticals Silver Protein product “Invive”.
The plain Scientific fact is that “any type” of the weak silver solution under 500 ppm is “not” as effective as a 5,000 ppm solution. This is a fact of science and “cannot” be refuted unless you put up a lying Website to deceive the public so you can sell weak solutions at great profit via the lying Web site.
We categorically state that any silver Web Site that says or infers that Silver ppm (parts per million) strength does “not” determine effectiveness is an outright lying Web Site.
Clearly, the statements above make no mention of the importance of particle size and particle surface area and therefore ignore one hundred years of colloid science. To refute their claims we offer the words of a world-recognized colloid scientist, Professor Ronald Gibbs, who for twenty years was the chairman of the colloidal science department at the University of Delaware.
In the booklet “Silver Colloids,” Professor Gibbs wrote “The size of the particles in the colloidal silver suspensions we use for health purposes is very important. Particle size controls the surface area and therefore the effectiveness of the colloidal silver suspension.“
The old truism that the worst liars are those who loudly accuse others of lying would seem to apply.