Does nano silver antibacterial have side effects?

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 virus broke out and quickly spread to all parts of the world. Consumers dominated by fear do their best to fight viruses, from masks to disinfectants to some unheard-of magical black technologies. However, a keyword named nano silver frequently appears in the sterilization market. In fact, in the past ten years, the use of silver as a bactericide has increased at an alarming rate, and it is not only in the medical field. From around 2005, many companies began to add this special form of silver to various daily necessities. These magical tiny particles are put into socks, toothbrushes, washing machines, vacuum cleaners and other daily necessities. According to the latest statistics, more than 400 kinds of consumer goods contain this form of silver. When you open the orange software to search, 10,000 kinds of products advertised as nano-silver technology in Qian Qian are on sale. Driven by interests, merchants tout the sterilization ability of nano-silver technology, while domestic consumers are ignorant of its potential harm. As early as 20 13, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) proposed to restrict the use of antibacterial nano-silver in clothing and other textiles, and later directly banned nano-silver antibacterial agents. Australia also calls for strict safety inspection of daily necessities using nano-silver technology. How destructive is this little thing that scares many developed countries? After a lot of scientific research, the potential harm of nano-silver mainly includes the following six aspects: First, nano-silver is a kind of powdered silver with a particle size less than 100nm, which is generally between 25 and 50 nm, equivalent to 0. 1% of the diameter of human hair. Because nanoparticles are very small, they can be absorbed through the skin and are very easy to move. Once in the body, they can enter all tissues and organs without restriction, flow into the blood stream and lymphatic system, and deposit in the stomach and liver, including the brain. Secondly, silver nanoparticles can easily pass through cells, causing changes and destruction, and can enter cells through lipid raft-mediated endocytosis and energy-independent osmosis. The silver nanoparticles ingested into the cell are rapidly degraded into silver ions, which first exist in the cell as an intermediate of Ag-O- and then transform into Ag-S-, which may be combined with amino acids or peptides containing SH. When human vascular endothelial cells, lung epithelial cells and liver epithelial cells were exposed to low doses of silver nanoparticles, lung epithelial cells produced obvious endoplasmic reticulum stress, and then induced apoptosis. Third, the ultra-high specific surface area is more prone to harmful reactions. Silver nanoparticles have a high specific surface area because they are very small. This means that the more exposure, the more chemical reactions, some of which are harmful. Fourth, allergic reactions Many studies have shown that silver nanoparticles are allergic. Ingestion of silver or silver compounds, including colloidal silver, may lead to silver poisoning and discoloration of skin and organs. In 2006, there was a case in which an old man of 17 years old suffered from 30% systemic burns. After a few days of treatment with Acticoat, a wound bandage containing silver nanoparticles, a temporary blue-gray color appeared. Some historians suspect that silver is the source of the special term "noble blood", which is used to describe people of noble birth. Members of the royal family often wear a lot of silver ornaments, and nobles also use real silver tableware when eating and drinking. It may increase the risk of cancer, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. A research report was published in Nano magazine of American Chemical Society (ACS). After nano-silver enters the human body, it will lead to the formation of free radicals in cells. We should know that many diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, are caused by excessive production of free radicals in cells. 20 15 another research group suggested that nano-silver seems to be toxic to specific tissues. But so far, it is not clear how many doses of silver nanoparticles a person must be exposed to before making these changes. We can only treat this kind of products with great caution. 6. Threatening the ecological environment, using a washing machine coated with nano silver, or cleaning nano silver textiles, some particles will be discharged into the sewer system and merged into rivers and lakes. These nanoparticles may be ingested by fish or deposited at the bottom of rivers, harming microorganisms living there, whether harmful or harmless (therefore, Sweden has banned the production of nano-silver washing machines). What worries scientists most is that the more nano-silver enters the environment, the more likely microorganisms will learn how to resist, which is more conducive to the reproduction of ultrafine bacteria. A single particle of 50nm can cause great changes in the whole ecosystem, and it is conceivable how much threat it can bring to our body system. At present, the quality of nano-silver products advertised in the domestic market is even more uneven. Using different sizes and shapes of silver nanoparticles and using different coatings may affect their toxicity. Do you dare to buy so-called antibacterial products at will after knowing these real inside information? At least in the case that the current research can't guarantee consumers to use these new technologies safely, we should keep a rational and cautious attitude towards these products, instead of blindly emptying our wallets to bring more harm to ourselves.