Robert, Good questions. I can't give full answers to the technical ones, but I'll do what I can. You've got a good grasp of the information here; all of us trying to make & use CS should have this information as a background.
[email protected] wrote: > > Bruce, > Thanks for posting the article. It seems to be very appropriate. > Now, can you help me out a bit? I'm a non-scientific type and some of the > information kind of goes over my head. > For example: > "Most toxicological studies have been conducted with silver in the free, > elemental or 0 oxidation state, and with the +1 monovalent silver ion. The > rarer +2 and +3 oxidation states have not been studied adequately." > > I don't know anything about oxidation states or monovalent ions. What does > this imply for makers of CS? Simply put, you want to make silver ions - positively charged particles. This is done with DC, low voltage (less than 36 volts for sure; possibly smaller particle size made with less current & voltage. ) > > My impression from the article is that pure CS ions (is this what it is > calling free silver?) are bad for bacteria and that compounds (presumable > created by other substances in the water) are not very effective against > the bacteria. I think the article is written from the perspective that > pure CS ions in the water would be a bad thing because it could damage > certain types of flora and fauna. This would be undesirable in the natural > environment. Therefore, one of the points seems to be that there is little > concern that silver compounds would naturally create pure CS ions. (Am I > on track here?) BIBNGO! I did the field research for a water quality study in a heavy silver mining district in the Colorado Rockies in the late '70s. Our objective was to raise the water quality of a non-fisheries status stream, affected by acid mine drainage and heavy metals contamination, to where it would support benthic / aquatic insects and trout... facinating study & process. > > The article goes on to talk about the difference in toxicity to bacteria > versus mammals by saying: > "This extreme mammalian-to-bacterial toxicity differential is the > definition of an oligodynamic material. The low concentration necessary > for oligodynamic activity allows silver or one of its insoluble salts to be > used indefinitely in contact with sterile liquids without silver levels > building up to concentrations harmful to people." > > Does oligodynamic mean that it affects different things in sharply > different ways? Yes. > And does the above mean that silver and its various > compounds are relatively harmless to people? Yes, in the concentrations likely to be encountered naturally in water supplies; go to the section discussing ARGYRIA for furthewr insight on how compounds are less desirable... > I'm not sure whether sulfides are salts, for example. "Salts" is a generic or crude term for compounds. > When we make CS at home, do we get silver salts or > something else? IF you make your CS with pure distilled water (get the TDS1 from Hanna Instruments for 14.95 + S&H & test fot a reading of 000 to 001 on the distilled water you buy; I've seen contamination levels of 17 and 23 PPM in two brands sold as 'distilled water) and PLEASE DON'T ADD SALT! then no compounds will be formed in your CS. > > Then it says: > "The biological effects of silver are apparently due to reversible bonds > with enzymes and other active molecules on the surface of cells. Due to its > sulphydryl binding propensity, biologically-available silver disrupts > membranes, disables proteins and inhibits enzymes. The ionic form of silver > is necessary for biological activity and the lipid phase of the membrane > appears to be important in adsorbing silver ions to living cells. The > active sites on enzymes which are affected by silver are apparently the > electron-rich functional groups such as SH groups." > > I think this says that silver can bind with enzymes and other molecules on > cells. By doing so, it keeps the cell membranes from functioning correctly > (and can therfore kill the cell?). Does this say that ionic silver (such > as our home made CS?) is the only one that has any impact on the cells? The positively charged ionic form is said to be 300 times more toxic / effective than the one 'biologicly available' form of silver chloride, and 15,000 times more toxic / effective than silver sulfide compounds. > What is a lipid phase of a membrane? To what extent do mammalian cells vs. > bacterial cells have lipid phases and would silver affect them? I don't > know anything about enzymes or functional groups such as SH groups. What > is this all about? I'm afraid I also need more of these details filled in; wish there was a full bibliography on B.C's resaearch in setting up this criteria! At least we have this information in black and white from a source that is probably highly reliable! > > Sorry about all the questions, but sometimes my ignorance is frightening. > If I want to use CS intelligently, I need to understand this stuff. > > Thanks for your help. > > Bob Wells These are all excellent questions, and I intend to pursue all of this further myself as time allows. I'll also pull out a copy of the heavy metals impacted stream study, and review the data there again soon. This is the background for my beliefs / recommendations to use only pure distilled water of a known / tested purity, use low voltage DC, to generate it, etc.... Be Well! Bruce K. Stenulson Applied Technology The Alternate Health Approaches Forum http://web.idirect.com/~showcase/althealth/index.html -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -or- [email protected] with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the subject: line. To post, address your message to: [email protected] List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
