Why is noone using Silver nitrate to make colloidal silver?

[broli]

I have stopped using electrolysis almost a decade ago cause of how simple, fast and cheap using silver nitrate is. I can make any quantity of colloidal silver in less than 30min. You do need some extra equipment but I find it strange that noone here is using this method.

Before you tell me how dangerous nitrates are in water. Here in the EU the upper limit for nitrates in drinking water is 50 PPM. A 20 ppm solution of colloidal silver made with silver nitrate would contain 20ppm of nitrate. Even at 40ppm you're below the safe limit which is intended for daily water consumption.

For those interested here's how I make mine:
Materials needed:

• jewelry scale which has 0.01gr accuracy
• magnetic stirrer and stir bar
• Silver nitrate powder 99.9+% purity (pretty cheap for almost 1$/gr, 50gr for instance can make you 2500 liters of 20ppm colloidal silver or 125l of 400ppm)
• Graduated cylinder or just get a cheap thumbwheel pipette

Process:

• Weigh 1260 mg of silver nitrate powder and add it to 200ml of distilled water, this will make a 20mg of Ag/10ml silver nitrate solution and will be the stock solution
• Put 500ml of distilled water on a magnetic stirrer and add a teaspoon of maltodextrin and let it dissolve
• pipette 10ml of the stock silver nitrate solution and add it to the water
• Add a pinch of sodium bicarbonate to slightly lower the PH, this will help the reducing take place or else nothing will happen
• Keep stirring for 10min untill the color has completely changed
• done, you have 500 ml of 40ppm colloidal silver solution

This is the topical version as it's not very resistant to acids. For the ingestible version I just add gelatin to the above process.

[Gene]

https://www.cgcsforum.org/index.php?topic=2622.msg23734#msg23734

I fail to see, given the risks and the need for uber accuracy (EXPENSIVE) equipment how this is nearly as safe nor as inexpensive as making it via electrolysis.

All we need is a jar, some 1m sodium carbonate which is practically free, a DVM you can buy for less than $10 these days and most people already have one, a power source (even a laptop charger - 19.3v - works wonderfully - what I use) and a current limiter you can build for yourself for a couple bucks. Oh yeah, a silver wire or bullion bar and a copper wire as the cathode.  The whole setup (other than maybe the silver wire or bullion bar) can be had for less than $20 and it can be reused indefinitely.

Our procedure is safe, easy, accurate and repeatable and countless people are using it with great success and have been for as long as this forum has been around which is probably pushing 10 years now if not longer.

If you choose to make it your way, more power to you but most here have chosen the safe, reliable, easy, inexpensive way documented on this forum. Up to you.

[Bobby]

  I know that silver nitrate has been addressed before on this forum in the past but we have always gone the generator route.  Like Gene said it’s easy, affordable and you don’t have to keep a supply of Silver Nitrate on hand.

  But hey I’m curious about the procedure and might give it a go in the near future.

Bobby 

[Gene]

OOps, sorry.  That topic I listed is only available for those tagged as experts.  I haven't found one pertinent thats not classified for experts only.

[cfnisbet]

Silver Nitrate is used by laboratories for making Colloidal Silver when they are too lazy to make it properly, or when they want to destroy the reputation of true Colloidal Silver.

This is because Silver Nitrate makes Colloidal Silver but then contaminates it with the nitric acid by-product of the reaction. This nitric acid is a contaminant which causes problems with subsequent testing, which the anti-Colloidal Silver crowd welcome.

As an example, some horrible "scientists" put live zebra fish into a Colloidal Silver solution produced from silver nitrate. Not surprisingly, the fish exhibited extreme distress and they all died, which was then used by the cruel liars who conducted the "test" to "illustrate" how Colloidal Silver was toxic to fish! It was of course, the nitric acid on their gills that killed them, not the Colloidal Silver particles.

DO NOT use silver nitrate to make Colloidal Silver for therapeutic purposes.

[Bobby]

   Thanks for that reminder cfnisbet!

  I have long forgotten about reading the misleading reports about the dangers of “colloidal silver” on aquatic life.  Now I remember why I didn’t want to have any of it around.  It’s just plain unsafe to have it on hand.  Someone not knowing the difference, if and when I’m not around to tell them, could be very seriously injured.  That’s something we should all be aware of!  You never know if your going to be around to caution someone.

Bobby

[SaltyCornflakes]

Nitrates really are everywhere in tap water and even more so on produce, but they are still unhealthy to ingest. And more so, silver nitrate is a toxic compound. I wouldn't be comfortable mixing a drinkable solution with it, even if 'virtually all' silver nitrate would be dissolved into Colloidal Silver and nitrate.

You already have a magnetic stirrer and most of the other stuff you need. I'd just get started on electrolysis. This is not us trying to rag on your method. It could be fine. But I wouldn't risk it.

[cfnisbet]

Colloidal Silver is used on fish by immersing the fish into the Colloidal Silver for a few minutes, then putting them back into their tank.

There's no law against disbelieving me or the others on this website, and we like to think that we are open-minded. If you badmouth Colloidal Silver, we don't like it, but we won't kill you. Try badmouthing vaccines in the USA; as soon as you get somewhere with your research, your longevity may decrease substantially.

Google "dead microbiologists". I was told by a life insurance agent that declaring your occupation to be "microbiologist" actually can affect your premiums, it is so relatively common.

Consuming silver nitrate that has not been completely turned into Colloidal Silver is a sure way of eventually getting Argyria, as Rosemary Jacobs would tell you; she says that it was Colloidal Silver that gave her Argyria; I am almost certain that it was ionic silver, and probably silver nitrate. She is entitled to her view, but we have found that she is, to be charitable, severely mistaken. Paul Karason had other reasons for wishing to become greyish-blue.

[cfnisbet]

I would agree with the nitrate issue but again as long as you keep it under 50ppm and aren't chugging liters of 50ppm per day you're on the safe side. The EU* claims up to 50ppm in drinking water, has no health impact. But your argument that some silver ions would not reduce and cause agaria I find strange as that same argument applies to the electrolysis method.

Recently I have been making new batches using boiling water without a magnetic stirrer, and after 5 min of boiling the water is as yellow as it can get. And I doubt much ionic silver is left at 90°C for 5min using maltodextrin as reducing/capping agent. I bet a microwave would be as effective but I do not own one to know.

I would not necessarily try it, but you are not only correct about the EU(SSR)* limit, but the Russians used to use ionic silver for sterilising the Mir Space Station water, as diarrhoea on a spacecraft could be ... problematic.

I am sure that your method has resulted in a complete reduction of the ionic silver. A microwave would work, but you would have to heat the water repeatedly because you can't put the metal equipment into the machine.