Ingredient's Bio Activity

COLLOIDAL SILVER (Colloidal Silver)


ABOUT THE INGREDIENT

Colloidal silver is a mixture of silver ions and silver nanoparticles suspended in an aqueous medium. They are usually synthesized by electrolysis using a set of silver cathodes. Before modern antibiotics were developed, colloidal silver was used as an all-purpose remedy for various infections and illnesses. Colloidal silver was first used in 1891 by a surgeon named B.C Crede to sterilize wounds. The use of silver grew in popularity between 1900 to the 1940s.

 


ACTIVE COMPONENTS

Colloidal silver contains microscopic flakes of pure silver.


BENEFITS IN COSMETICS

 

ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES

Colloidal Silver is recognized to have antimicrobial activity. The sustained release of Ag+ from colloidal silver is necessary to achieve antimicrobial efficacy.

Colloidal Silver exerts broad-spectrum antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria.

Silver ions released from the Colloidal Silver target microorganisms through several different modes of action and causing morphological changes:

  1. Silver ions form pores and puncture the bacterial cell wall by reacting with the peptidoglycan components (Sulfur atoms present in the sulfhydryl groups of protein and enzymes located on the bacterial cell wall) and altering the transport activity.
  2. Silver ions penetrate the bacterial cell and nucleus causing cellular component dysfunction and destabilization.
  3. Silver ions both inhibiting cellular respiration and disrupting the metabolic pathway resulting in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and destroying energy production ATP.
  4. Silver ions also disrupt the cellular signal system (DNA) and its replication cycle.

 


SAFETY

Colloidal Silver is safe to use in cosmetics with a maximum concentration of 1%, taking into account the reasonably foreseeable exposure condition.