What is the toxicology of nanosilver?
Impact on microbes Most of the scientific research on nanosilver has investigated its effects on microbes such as bacteria and, to a lesser extent, fungi, algae and viruses. Nanosilver is highly toxic to several strains of bacteria, including V. cholerae (the organism that causes cholera), E. coli and, significantly, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is responsible for infections that resist treatment by conventional antibiotics. The concentration that inhibits 50% of microbial growth or is bactericidal differs for each microbe and has been reported as low as 0.14 µg/mL. Nanosilver’s antimicrobial activity has been exploited in wound dressings applied to burn patients, whose skin injuries make them more susceptible to a variety of infections. Nanosilver has recently been found at concentrations as low as 0.14 µg/mL to be toxic to several species of nitrifying bacteria, which play an important role in the environment by converting ammonia in the soil to a form of
