‘Colloidal Silver’: Recommendations to Remove This Misleading Term for Describing Nanoparticulate Silver Antimicrobial Agents

Abstract

We endeavour to resolve some of the confusion surrounding the (mis) use of the term ‘colloidal silver’, particularly in a pharmaceutical context. It is proposed that, wherever possible, the term ‘colloidal silver’ be replaced by a clearer descriptor indicating a silver formulation’s composition and func- tion, particularly when used either to help treat infections and/or to stimu- late healing (as in restorative medicine). For discussion, we propose adopting some less ambiguous terms to de- scribe metallic silver formulations; this new terminology being more relat- ed to their physical properties and their end use, e.g. bioactive silver disper- sion, nano (sized)silver clusters (NSC), reactive atomic clusters, ‘quantum meta-silver’, etc. Methods for characterising medicinal silver products are also considered – these being needed to adequately certify the chemical composition and physical properties of novel pharmaco-active silver formu- lations – before submitting them for clinical evaluation.

Keywords: Materia medica; Silver antimicrobials; Nano silver clusters (NSC); ‘quantum silver’; ‘meta-silver’