Reid Harvey, Ode Coyote wrote: "> Ken, > I never stopped to think that the silver may be the hydroxide, evedince > that my understanding of chemistry is limited. (Sometimes I stop and > think and sometimes I just stop.) Can you fill me in on how it is that > the hydroxide is a salt?
Silver hydroxide would not be a salt, but rather a base. IE sodium hydroxide is lye. Marshall" Technically speaking, that is true. But silver hydroxide is a very weak base, and in fact it's pH is lower than many 'genuine' salts. The point is, it exists in solution as dissociated ions - not as colloidal silver particles. Owing to claims made on the list that nitrate ion was the main problem with silver nitrate (even though argyria is a deposited silver condition), the question arises as to what species or combination of species potentially does the damage, and under what conditions. I think there is general agreement that unrealistically massive doses are required before home brew 'CS' would be a problem. But I got the impression that silver nitrate could cause trouble at much lower relative dosage - ie it's not just a matter of silver ion dosage alone. Nitrate is a known carcinogen (less so than nitrite), and an irritant at high enough concentration. But is argyria solely due to the high silver dosage possible with silver nitrate (very high solubility), or is there some kind of synergy effect as well? Anything taken to excess will cause trouble. The gist is this - do certain anions, innocuous of themselves (eg, acetate, citrate) somehow significantly and selectively 'promote' toxicity of silver ion relative to say, silver hydroxide at the same concentration? Maybe there is simply no definitive data on that, but if there is it would be a good thing to know. regards, Kevin Nolan
