Argyria “Blue Man” Syndrome

Many people new to colloidal silver will often ask the question, “Will colloidal silver turn me blue?” Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation about colloidal silver floating around the internet and it is hard to wade through it all. The short answer is no. If it is not used excessively, this should never happen to you. People take Tylenol daily and with abandon, yet overdoses account for about 56,000 emergency room visits and 26,000 hospitalizations yearly. Analysis of national mortality data shows 458 deaths occur each year from acetaminophen-associated overdose. There is not one case of overdosing on colloidal silver; you would overdose on water before you would overdose on colloidal silver. There are no accounts of illness or mortality being caused by colloidal silver. 

There has been tons of propaganda thrown out to deter people from using this all natural, harmless and effective product but this is actually a pretty ironic story. The FDA tries to blur the line between colloidal silver and completely different chemical compounds which happen to have silver as one of their components. According to the FDA, "There is no acceptable evidence that the routine use of silver solutions for the prophylaxis of colds is at all efficacious, and cases of argyria have resulted from this practice." 

Keep in mind that argyria is a cosmetic condition, known to be caused by silver nitrates/silver salts, different compounds entirely from colloidal silver. Once again, the FDA seeks to blur the line between harmless electrically generated colloidal silver, and the potentially harmful chemical silver compounds *they have approved as prescription drugs.*

Colloidal Silver is basically a mineral water. There are two main types of colloidal silver, ionic silver and nanoparticle silver. Ionic silver is only pure silver and pure water. It should always be colorless and have a slight metallic taste. This is the type of silver most often sold commercially, and it is most widely used.  When you take ionic silver orally, it converts into other compounds when it hits gastric acid. Nanoparticle silver is always yellow in color. As the concentration gets higher, the darker the color. For example, 20ppm should be amber/yellow and 4000ppm should be deep brown. The other ingredients are added as reducing agents and capping agents. The reduction agents assist in combining the silver ions into nanoparticles, and the capping agents help protect those nanoparticles to resist stomach acid. Nanoparticle (vs ionic) has a few more ingredients and uses much “fancier” equipment to ensure proper brewing and purity.

Nanoparticle “TRUE” Colloidal Silver (the kind Silver Seas brews) is better for oral use as it resists stomach acid and goes directly into the bloodstream. In most reported cases of argyria, the person was drinking homemade ionic silver and often using salt to speed up the process. When salt is used, it creates silver chloride, not colloidal silver. There was one case of localized argyria reported, caused by a silver cream prescribed by a doctor. Ionic silver is mostly silver oxide. Silver oxide readily combines with stomach acid to make silver chloride. Some people (not me) claim it is safe to drink a gallon a day of ionic silver. While turning totally blue probably still wouldn't be an issue with this much intake of ionic silver, nobody should ever have to drink a gallon a day of any type of silver to receive the benefits. This is why I only brew the purest form of silver which is nanoparticle silver. Nanoparticle begins as ionic silver, but is purified by reduction and there has never been a case of nanoparticle silver turning anyone any other color. However, eat 10 carrots every day for a few weeks and check the mirror. =) Just a little humor, but carotenemia is a thing we don't often hear about or consider, but then again, they aren't trying to shut down carrot consumption.