Gloom in the Trend Toward Silver-Based Antimicrobial Products?

Only a few years back, the trend was in full swing toward adding safe, natural silver to consumer products in an effort to staunch the growing spread of infectious microorganisms.

But now, radical environmentalists have thrown a monkey wrench into the machinery, and fewer and fewer antimicrobial silver-based consumer products are actually coming to market. What happened? Here’s the story…

Hi, Steve Barwick here, for www.TheSilverEdge.com...

Back in May 1999 I wrote an article titled Big Business Moves Into Silver-Based Products In a BIG Way…

…which documented the new trend toward incorporating antimicrobial silver into common household products such as toothbrushes, combs, brushes, computer keyboards, clothing…

…phone handles and mouthpieces, kitchen cutting boards and many other “touch surfaces”, in an effort to provide consumers with greater protection against the spread of infectious microorganisms.

That newsletter mailed over one million pieces and became one of the most popular articles I’ve ever written, being widely distributed around the globe, and in many ways helping boost consumer interest in silver-based products.

In Steps the Radical Environmentalists

Since that time, a coalition of radical environmentalist groups have sued the Environmental Protection Agency and forced them to adopt new policies requiring anyone using silver in consumer products for antimicrobial purposes to register with the EPA –

-- and in some cases undergo expensive testing to demonstrate that the silver won't be able to leach out into the environment and cause harm.

These are of course excessively costly requirements that have caused many companies to simply withdraw their silver-impregnated, silver-coated or silver-lined products from the market.

Worse yet, in an effort to set a strict example, the EPA fined a company called IOGEAR a whopping $208,000.00 for failing to properly register their silver-impregnated computer mouse as a “pesticide” (unbelievable, I know)…

…and then embarked on a public relations campaign announcing their exorbitant fine through every media outlet that would carry the story.

This of course, achieved its intended purpose of putting an immediate halt to the plans of many companies to add silver-based protection against infectious microbes to their product lines.

Worthless Loophole

There’s a small but utterly worthless loophole in the EPA regulations, however. If a company doesn't make antimicrobial claims for its product, it can still use the silver in its product, and it doesn’t have to register the product with the EPA.

Does that sound familiar to you?

It’s basically the same “loophole” in the FDA’s 1999 “Final Ruling” against colloidal silver, which states that you can still sell colloidal silver, as long as you don’t label it, or advertise it, for its antimicrobial benefits!

In short, this so-called “loophole” against truth-telling is what gives the regulators the ability to step in and shut a company down, or pull the plug on their silver-based product…

…if the company so much as dares tell the public the well-known facts regarding the myriad protective benefits of antimicrobial silver!

So, what's the use of adding pure silver to a consumer product, if you can't advertise its infection-fighting benefits?

After all, adding silver to a consumer product in order to give buyers added protection against the spread of infectious microorganisms is a significant added expense. (Have you seen the price of silver lately?)

And if manufacturers cannot tell consumers why the added silver is beneficial, there is simply no benefit to the manufacturer to undertake that added expense.

This so-called “loophole” (which is in reality a regulatory restriction) has contributed to the dramatic slowdown in the once growing trend of utilizing safe, natural antimicrobial silver in consumer goods as a means of helping halt the spread of infectious microorganisms –

-- which, of course, is exactly what the radical environmentalists wanted in the first place!

Amazing, isn’t it?

And now the environmentalists are screaming they ultimately want this “loophole” closed, too, and all silver-based products pulled from the market until they can be proven to be “environmentally safe.”

The Irony: The Environment Will Be Worse Off, Not Better

Here’s the irony of the situation:

It’s widely acknowledged even among environmentalists that there’s a growing need for consumer products with antimicrobial properties.

After all, infectious disease is spreading faster than ever, and more and more pathogens are becoming resistant to antibiotic drugs.

Halting the spread of these pathogens by adding antimicrobial qualities to “contact surface” products such as computer keyboards, phone handles and mouthpieces, kitchen cutting boards and more is necessary.

And companies that want to produce such products due to widespread consumer demand are now turning to artificial chemical substances instead of silver –

-- chemical substances that far more likely to cause harm to the environment over time than silver ever will. After all, silver comes from the environment in the first place.

Is it the law of unintended consequences at work again, proving that just about every time do-gooders get involved they actually make things worse?

Or are the environmentalists really working for the dark side?

It’s interesting to me that there hasn’t been a peep out of these groups about hyper-regulating the artificial chemical antimicrobial substances now being used as a substitute for silver by some manufacturers.

Nope. Their gripe is solely with silver. It has ZERO to do with the environment.

Which makes you wonder what their ulterior motive for wanting to remove safe, natural antimicrobial silver from the marketplace is, in the first place.

The Fight Continues

Organizations like the Silver Nanotechnology Working Group continue to try to work hand-in-hand with the EPA in order to demonstrate why the EPA needs to take a fairer and more balanced stance on the use of silver in commercial products.

But the radical environmentalists continue to pressure the EPA to close the one remaining “loophole” allowing silver to be used in consumer products.

And they’re demanding the EPA take all silver-based products off the market, until they can be proven “safe” for the environment –

-- a task that would require every manufacturer wishing to use silver in their products to spend hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of dollars on environmental impact tests that benefit…

…(drum roll, please)…

…the EPA and the various environmental organizations whose members would run such costly testing facilities.

Meanwhile, the radical environmental groups continue to pump out hyperbolic position paper after position paper, and tout junk science study after study purporting to demonstrate silver’s inherent “environmental toxicity.”

And frankly, their efforts are dwarfing the efforts of the pro-silver camp to bring some semblance of balance and sanity to the picture.

The pro-silver camp has simply never understood the win-at-all-costs mindset of their radical environmentalist opponents.

And as a result of this strategic blunder, their efforts to use a rational, informational approach to educating the EPA about the benefits of antimicrobial silver in consumer products…

… is being buried under the growing din of the “sky is falling” shouts of the radical environmentalists.

Good News?

The good news is that the radical environmental groups are now doing what they always end up doing, which is resorting to absurdly hyperbolic claims –

-- such as stating (with straight faces, mind you) that the use of silver in commercial products is “causing global warming” and “killing the planet.”

Yet in spite of the unbelievably unhinged nature of the environmentalist campaign against silver, the EPA appears to be listening intently to their absurd claims.

(Surprised? Have you ever known a government bureaucracy to turn down a proposed expansion of their power and authority, regardless of how needless it may be, or how ruinous to business and industry?)

The EPA continues to hold periodic hearings on the matter. And the pro-silver and anti-silver factions continue to attend those hearings and state their cases.

The pro-silver faction, such as the aforementioned Silver Nanotechnology Working Group, continue to take a rational, balanced and information-based stance…

…while the radical environmentalists continue to spew out hyperbolic position papers and press releases (which are always picked up by the media)…

…making the usual undocumented claims against silver and exaggerating the findings of environmentalist researchers.

Sadly, the General Public Are the Only Losers

Only time will tell what’s to come next, and how this will all end.

Even now, the EPA is considering new regulations and requirements for manufacturers of products containing antimicrobial silver. (I’ll have more on that in the next issue of this ezine.)

In the meantime, the public is being deprived of the infection-fighting protection offered by silver-based products. This, at a time in history when infectious illness and disease are running rampant --

-- common pathogens are mutating into deadly super-pathogens such as MRSA --

-- antibiotic drugs are losing their effectiveness against these pathogens…little babies and old ladies alike are coming down with these deadly infections --

-- and the food supply is becoming contaminated with these deadly pathogens even as environmental groups fight to keep silver from being used in food processing facilities.

What can you say, but thank you, environmentalists, for your caring and helpful ways!

What You Can Do…

Of you haven’t done so already, one vitally important thing you can do in order to protect yourself and your family is become an owner of the means of colloidal silver production.

As I stated over a decade ago in my original article on the growing uses of silver as an antimicrobial agent in commercial products:

By purchasing an inexpensive Micro-Particle Home Colloidal Silver Generator from The Silver Edge, you can produce your own safe, pure, high-quality colloidal silver any time you need it –

-- quickly and easily, in the comfort and privacy of your own home – -- for about thirty six cents a quart or less!

(At that price, you can literally afford to bathe in it. Just add a quart or two to your bath water. Indeed, many people with chronic skin conditions do just that, and to great effect!)

You can also spray colloidal silver onto kitchen counter tops to kill germs, mold, mildew and other microbes…soak your store-bought fruits and vegetables in it to eradicate potentially harmful bacteria and fungus from the food surfaces…

…clean and decontaminate faucets, door knobs, and other contact surfaces such as your kitchen cutting board or that filthy blade on your kitchen can opener…

…add a couple of ounces to your daily laundry as a natural antiseptic agent that will keep clothes, bath towels, dish rags, and other fabrics fresh and germ-free for weeks on end…

…soak your toothbrush in it to prevent microbial contamination …spray it in your garden to prevent fungal and bacterial growth…spray it around sinks, bathtubs and other surfaces to stop mold and mildew in its tracks…

…spray it topically onto cuts and burns for prevention of infection and to stimulate rapid wound healing…spray it on your hair to stop itching and dandruff almost instantly…

…You can even add it to your pet's water bowl to resolve internal infections and help prevent illness…add a little to your aquarium tank to prevent fungal "ick" and other tropical fish infections…

…put a drop or two into your ears to knock out a pesky earache without having to use prescription antibiotics...gargle with it to eradicate sore throats…put it into a spray atomizer and sniff it up your nose to eliminate sinus infections…

…add a drop or two into your eyes to stop Pink Eye or styes in a single afternoon…and so many, many more astonishing healing, infection-fighting and disease-preventing benefits you'll ask yourself why you've never tried it before!

And, of course, you can safely use colloidal silver internally to stop colds and flu in their tracks…alleviate intestinal infections…stop urinary tract infections…cure upper respiratory infections…wipe out infection-based prostate problems…and much, much more!

10 Million Colloidal Silver Users Can't Be Wrong!

An estimated ten million Americans now use colloidal silver regularly.

But why pay $29 or $39 an ounce at your local health food store for a tiny four-ounce bottle of colloidal silver, when you can make your own high-quality colloidal silver for only about thirty six cents per quart.

The choice is up to you. Eventually, the medical bureaucrats will ban colloidal silver completely at the behest of big business and the drug industry, neither of which want the competition from such a safe, inexpensive infection-fighting substance.

But as we have emphasized over and over again for the past five years, once you have the means of colloidal silver production in your own hands, they can't take it away from you.

With a safe, simple, home colloidal silver generator you can produce colloidal silver for the rest of your life, for only pennies.

You'll literally be able to afford to give it away to sick relatives and friends…gargle with it to stop a sore throat in its tracks...

…swish it around in your mouth to eliminate bacterial plaque on teeth and gums...drink a few ounces daily to resolve intestinal infections or cure food poisoning...

…knock out upper respiratory infections such as colds and the flu...eliminate urinary tract infections...beat candida yeast infections with ease...and much more!

Cutting edge doctors have demonstrated that when used internally it even works on deep-seated infections that, left untreated, can result in chronic degenerative diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, Parkinson's disease, cancer, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia and many other serious conditions!

As Dr. Joseph Weissman, M.D., board certified immunologist and Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California Medical School has written:

"Today, many antibiotics are losing the battle with germs.

Fortunately, the best germ killer, which was discovered over 2,000 years ago, is finally getting the proper attention from medical science natural silver.

I sincerely recommend that everyone have electrically generated silver in their home as an antiseptic, antibacterial and antifungal agent."

So if you haven’t done so already, be sure to look into getting a high-quality home colloidal silver generator for your family.

You’ll be astonished at all of the infection-fighting and disease-preventing benefits you’ll be able to take full advantage of, once you own the means of colloidal silver production.

Stay Tuned…

In my next article, I’ll show you what you can do in order to help protect colloidal silver from the environmental regulators, as they turn up the heat on products containing silver nanoparticles.

Meanwhile, I remain…

Yours for the safe, sane and responsible use of colloidal silver,

Steve Barwick, authorThe Ultimate Colloidal Silver Manual

Helpful Links:

Video: Learn How to Make Micro-Particle Colloidal Silver

.999 Fine Pure Silver Wire for Making Colloidal Silver

Get Your FREE Colloidal Silver “Safe Dosage” Report

Join the Colloidal Silver Secrets Group on Facebook

The New Micro-Particle Colloidal Silver Generator

Subscribe to the Colloidal Silver Secrets Ezine

Make Your Own Colloidal Silver Inexpensively

Real-Life Colloidal Silver Success Stories

Colloidal Silver Update (News & Views)

The Ultimate Colloidal Silver Manual

The Colloidal Silver Secrets Video

Colloidal Silver Kills Viruses

Colloidal Silver Cures MRSA

Colloidal Silver Secrets blog

Meet Steve Barwick

Important Note and Disclaimer: The contents of this Ezine have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Information conveyed herein is from sources deemed to be accurate and reliable, but no guarantee can be made in regards to the accuracy and reliability thereof. The author, Steve Barwick, is a natural health journalist with over 30 years of experience writing professionally about natural health topics. He is not a doctor. Therefore, nothing stated in this Ezine should be construed as prescriptive in nature, nor is any part of this Ezine meant to be considered a substitute for professional medical advice. Nothing reported herein is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The author is simply reporting what he has learned during the past 17 years of journalistic research into colloidal silver and its usage. Therefore, the information and data presented should be considered for informational purposes only, and approached with caution. Readers should verify for themselves, and to their own satisfaction, from other knowledgeable sources such as their doctor, the accuracy and reliability of all reports, ideas, conclusions, comments and opinions stated herein. All important health care decisions should be made under the guidance and direction of a legitimate, knowledgeable and experienced health care professional. Readers are solely responsible for their choices. The author and publisher disclaim responsibility or liability for any loss or hardship that may be incurred as a result of the use or application of any information included in this Ezine.