5 ms·

It's also likely got some sort of basis in the oligodynamic effect, as Titanium rips apart cell walls passively that way as well. How much each does each, I can

It's also likely got some sort of basis in the oligodynamic effect, as Titanium rips apart cell walls passively that way as well. How much each does each, I can't say. Works for a lot of other metals, like bismuth (you wonder how Pepto stops diarrhea? Oligodynamic effect, among other things), copper, silver (yes, they put this in some medical dressings and such for hospitals, it kills MRSA as do many oligodynamic metals). Usually does the vast majority of its self-sanitization within a few _hours_, not days, as I best understand it. It's an excellent and still-underappreciated effect. Use it in your everyday life, I know I go out of my way too and it's quite worth it! :3 :')))) < :') Nothing too new about this article. Titanium white is a good self-sanitizing pigment if you need it, though I'd recommend talking to the appropriate professional before doing anything funky with anything. Stay safe! <3 :')))) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligodynamic_effect https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligodynamic_effect

civilitty 3y ago
About 5-10 years ago there used to be a bunch of tupperware products impregnated with silver nanoparticles which were supposed to slow the growth of mold, fungus and bacteria until they were shut down by the EPA as unregistered/untested pesticides.
- tbalsam 3y ago
  That is very cool. I'm currently experimenting with dyeing my armpit hair with dyes containing oligodynamic metals to reduce the amount of noxiousness induced from long-haul (weeks-months) backpacking trips (it's what I do). Deodorant is just not worth the weight. Self-sanitizing body hair and clothes? Yes. I could do my head hair as well but I'd rather have that professionally dyed for sake of aesthetics. Dead bacteria under clothes do not seem to care about aesthetics. Already did it with my socks. They're all oddly colored, but no matter how many days in a row I've worn them to make them smell, a few-12 or so hours out of the shoe and the smell just...fades to a regular "human" smell (like if someone showered vigorously without soap. It's actually a rather neutral-pleasant smell). This is partially also because even after weeks without a shower or scrub in the river I still somehow retain my sense of smell of myself. It's... terrible. Would not wish it on anyone. Losing that sense of smell is an absolute gift, I say! :D :')))) So, in this and in a few other cases, having everything being self sanitizing is much more convenient. Plus, if it's strong enough, as the compounds I chose/currently use are non-toxic even if ingested directly in large quantities before dyeing, I can use my dry spare shirt as a self-sterilizing wound dressing if needed (just rinse w/clean water, or river water and leave it for a few hours if worried about exogenous compound contamination, but it is/should be fortunately quite sterile), or if my water filter breaks, I can simply clean an article of clothing thoroughly (soapless) in the water supply, then suspend it in whichever water vessel I'm putting contaminated water in for a few hours to sterilize it nearly completely. Won't remove petroleum derivatives or anything like that (unless the fabric adsorption really is that good), unfortunately, but bacteria/viruses/etc are one of the big kickers. You can see how oligodynamic materials open up a new world of safety, comfort, convenience, and light weight in the world of ultralight backpacking. Currently I'm working as well on building a carrying system that uses all of my day to day elements but does not involve a backpack. Test run alpha1 is today. Hurray! :')))) :3 <3 <3 <3 <3 :')))) [Final note: I'm not a doctor, this is not medical advice, I carry niacinamide for emergency treatment of infectious that do not respond to antibiotics. It can and will kill MRSA in many cases as well due to the fact that it causes the body to upregulate a huge variety of anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-parasitic, etc proteins, i.e. the body's own broad spectrum antibiotics. I encourage everyone to carry 5-6+ 500mg pills in their emergency kit and an adjunct, even if to slow down progression while out of civilization. I could go on about these topics for a long time, I'm an empirical researcher, darn it! It's how my brain seems to be. :3]
  - fellowniusmonk 3y ago
    If you don't mind me asking, what dyes have you found effective?
    - tbalsam 3y ago
      Copper pthalocyanidine (generally good-looking+most accessible that I know of, so I've stuck with that <3 :')), you can get it as powder online (cheapest+lightest) or as watercolor paint (it's called Pthalo Blue -- yes, of Bob Ross fame. Phalo Green has Cobalt IIRC, not the same, dunno about toxicity there. Check to make sure the dye is pure Copper Pthalocyanidine on the manufacturers website). I'm sure there are others, but the ones I've found don't bind nearly as well unfortunately, which is what we care about (transforming fabrics, proteins, compounds, etc to become an oligodynamic surface when not previously. As an aside, finding a silver compound of some sort that is A. Not damaging long-term, and B. acid-dyeing compatible would truly be my dream! <3 :'))))) Acid dye in a pot you don't care about as much (or not, it's your life!), citric acid in the canning section is the easiest to get. I use maybe 3-4 tablespoons or so. Add maybe a tablespoon of salt too. Make it easier on yourself by putting warm water in the pot, adding the watercolor, and stirring until well mixed. Then run water from the faucet into the sink until it's as hot as it can get, and fill it almost all of the way. Then mix in your salt and acid. _Make sure you don't have bleach in your clothes, the acid will turn it into chlorine gas. In large quantities this can chemically destroy your lungs and if you're too far gone you'll suffocate. Not likely if you're careful, just adding the warning. If you've pre-bleached, rinse several times very thoroughly and soak until there is no more bleach remaining_. Then add clothing, and heat water until it's maybe ~150-170 degrees or so, I just use a touch test (can handle up to 1-1.5 seconds) and err on the lower heat side, leaving it for a few hours. Stir and move the clothes so they have even contact with the water. Otherwise you'll get a blotchy dye. See Reddit for more details. I like the blotches, they're cute and add tons of personality. Continue until the water is nearly clear. Acid dyeing will oftentimes soak up almost all of the dye in the water. Let it cool, run it through several rinses in the washing machine. You can pour the warm liquid and clothes straight in. If you didn't have enough salt it might not be colorfast. Repeat 2-3 times or more or until satisfied with the color. You can also do this with your skin, a plastic barrier, and an (please be safe!!!!!!) appropriately warm heat source. For certain parts where skin cells rub off and give off an acrid odor when decaying, dyeing the outer layer lasts for about a week, looks a semi-deathly, semi-traditional-scottish-impression color of a deeper cyan blue, and resists bacterial growth for the time. As these cells are dyed, when they come off they will be self-sterilizing, reducing the off-byproducts afterwards. You can simply then rinse it off your clothing, and yourself, in a sink, shower, river, while traveling or the like, etc, etc. In the right circumstances, few people will be staring at your armpits, etc with the right clothing. :3 <3 :')))) <3 Also, if you have two gallon ziplock bags (nested, one as the 'outer catcher', be sure to remove air to keep all garments as submerged as possible, and you control your temperature well, and do not care as much about your water use, you can dye garments in a hotel room sink this way. You can also minimize water wastage (especially if the sink has an overflow system) by setting a continuous 'hot-as-possible' slow drip. Check it it 1, 2, and 5 minutes in to make sure the rate has not changed or the water temperature, when doing the drip method initially it can seem hot enough because the hot water is very "fresh", but slowing it down can cause an equilibrium where it is cooler due to the lag time in arriving from the water heater. (Also, if you do use this method in the future, please do let me know! I'd love to know someone else is doing this too and if there's any ambiguity, possible improvements, etc etc....) As you can see, I am an absolute fanatic for low-resource, high-quality (or high-quality result, at least), engineering. I could happily talk about this for hours or any particular usecase you might have, there are many ways to approach things. I've used these methods (among others similarly creative;P) to remove a surprising amount of weight from my backpacking kit, and I have much more flexibility too. This is also how I approach neural network research, but I love this domain as it's one that's directly relatable to many people, and somewhat allows me to be seen in what I feel I'm best at. In any case, thank you for reading this if you made it this far, as I noted before, I would absolutely be overjoyed to talk about any usecases you might have <3 :)))) :')))) <3
- atoav 3y ago
  Afaik this is still used in compound packaging materials (e.g. tetrapak). Traditionally in the alps richer families would put a silver spoon into their milk for similar reasons.
  - tbalsam 3y ago
    This is fascinating, wow. Thank you for sharing that. If it was not clear from my earlier oligodynamic post, I'm autistic and the fewer day-disrupting routines I have (washing cup with soap, I'm allergic to almost any detergent so it's a ....very long and stressful process to make it 'drinkable' and safe-feeling [unfortunately only detergent seems to get the biofilm]) the better. I've heard of farmers putting copper pennies in their rain barrels (yes, it actually works, apparently increases the amount of copper ions in the water a decent bit though IIRC? There's some downside), I hadn't thought of the silver contact bit. I struggle with cups building biofilm quickly, I'll have to electroplate some with silver or just put a piece of silver in there in the meantime to keep it clean for longer-term storage.
    - schiffern 3y ago
      Much happier with my symptoms since I switched to using (unscented) Dr Bronner soap. All organic and food safe ingredients. I buy the liquid and use it in a foaming dispenser.[0] The same folks make an actual detergent called Sal's Suds. Very drying but works well. I did use it, but these days I use the regular Castile soap for everything. Your mileage may vary of course. Unscented oxyclean (they do make it!) is a godsend for laundry, dishwasher, etc. Absolutely zero residue. For biofilms, cheap dollar store nylon scrub brushes (no "gummy" handle) are fantastic, and also their cheap multi-pack toothbrushes. Soaking in soapy water for 5-10 minutes (I set a timer) is surprisingly powerful. Almost accidentally, I find myself using just one drinking cup. This does keep it very manageable. I rarely burn things anymore, but 3M scouring pads from Lowes have saved more than a couple pots. :) Adaptation is a continuous learning process! Hope some of this can help or inspire. cheers. [0] https://www.lisabronner.com/making-a-foaming-hand-soap-with-castile-soap/ https://www.lisabronner.com/making-a-foaming-hand-soap-with-...
- Modified3019 3y ago
  Yeah, in the USA outside of some rare exceptions, anything that makes claims of killing or controlling a pest, whether weed, bug or microbe, becomes a "pesticide" and enters a realm with a LOT of expensive regulation and testing on efficacy claims, target safety, and non-target safety. Most companies will quickly opt out of that shitshow. For example, you can't just decide to sell acetic acid (vinegar) claiming it's a weed killer without following the same rules as the megacorps. And it's also why if you took jugs of "unregistered" grocery store vinegar, and applied it as a pesticide, you can get in big trouble. Now no one will really care if you do it as a homeowner unless you get really carried away, but if you were a commercial applicator of some kind then expect trouble if caught. This is what that warning "It is a violation of federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with it's labeling" stamped on everything means. This leads into weird scenarios where things like some ordinary phosphorus foliar fertilizers have a mild antimicrobial effect (I believe mostly against fungus, but I don't recall clearly) and everyone knows it. However no one can make that specific claim as part of a sale, because then the cheap fertilizer becomes an expensive pesticide. So an agronomist and farmer just wink and say "yeah, those plants with a fungal outbreak could sure use some nutrition to help it's vitality". Note that on it's own the phosphorous isn't likely to control anything, but can definitely help in combination with a real control, or delay how soon control is needed possibly saving a regulated spray. I believe the EU recognizes one of the phosphorous fertilizer forms as a pesticide, and thus growers here cannot apply it if that is where the crop will be exported. To be clear, you absolutely do NOT want companies to apply things willy-nilly as pesticides. They have repeatedly demonstrated the lack of ability to self regular and as such will always race to the bottom of irresponsibility. But there are definitely a lot of seemingly brain dead consequences involved. However it makes more sense when you consider the long term environmental and pest resistance consequences involved. Silver for example has implications that need to be watched when in constant contact with food and thus ingestion [note 0] and buildup of silver ions in the environment [note 1]. Organisms can and will become resistant to silver and copper, especially if one applies constant heavy selective environmental pressure. As such, our laws are in this instance are in fact doing what they were intended to do, regardless of obvious failures in other areas of concern. [note 0]: Let's just ignore for a moment that silver is remarkably safe and doesn't seem to act as a disruptive "heavy metal" because it's bound safely so quickly. Even in extreme amounts taken by fanatics, tissue pigmentation is seemingly all that happens. Meanwhile the plastic used for the containers that is in contact with your food is likely far worse in comparison. [note 1]: Let's just ignore the massive failure of regulating the effects of all the other antimicrobials, microplastics and pharmaceuticals dumped in the water supply...
tomjakubowski 3y ago
Does Pepto-Bismol indiscriminately kill bacteria in the gut then by this effect?
- tbalsam 3y ago
  I would assert so, oddly enough different metals kill different bacteria, let's see. I shall now search ncbi and see: Bismuth apparently has action, especially highlighted against E. Coli: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8236042/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8236042/ One study found few significant changes on normal fecal microflora before and after during a 1-2 day treatment period (I'm assuming this is a 'normal use' case :')))): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2305174/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2305174/
- boppo1 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - wolfgang42 3y ago
    boppo1 is a bot account. The spamming of identical comments is a dead giveaway. There, see how easy and unhelpful that was? ;-) Also, slinging spurious accusations at someone who’s written some quite interesting comments doesn’t seem like it adds much value to the conversation; and besides, consider the https://xkcd.com/810/ https://xkcd.com/810/ (“constructive spam”) effect.
    - boppo1 3y ago
      Spamming identical comments would make me a bot, not AI. The emojis are not the only giveaway, they're just the easiest to point out. It's clear you haven't spent much time at all talking to llama if you don't see all the giveaways. What an interesting time we're heading into.
hammock 3y ago
Silver in tableware, doorknobs, etc… passive anti microbial effect
- XorNot 3y ago
  Same with brass and copper - copper has an antimicrobial effect in the same way.
  - EricE 3y ago
    Yes - one of the reasons I'm not too thrilled with the trend towards plastic plumbing.
0xDEFACED 3y ago
Thanks for adding a new word to my vocabulary! I knew that silver had antimicrobial properties but didn’t know the phenomenon had a name. I think the material described in the article is a bit more novel than you’re giving it credit for though. The article has an image showing an intact bacteria on polished titanium next to a ruptured bacteria on this new surface. My guess is that the increased surface area of this new material allows for the oligodynamic effect to act more quickly.

civilitty 3y ago

About 5-10 years ago there used to be a bunch of tupperware products impregnated with silver nanoparticles which were supposed to slow the growth of mold, fungus and bacteria until they were shut down by the EPA as unregistered/untested pesticides.

tbalsam 3y ago
That is very cool. I'm currently experimenting with dyeing my armpit hair with dyes containing oligodynamic metals to reduce the amount of noxiousness induced from long-haul (weeks-months) backpacking trips (it's what I do). Deodorant is just not worth the weight. Self-sanitizing body hair and clothes? Yes. I could do my head hair as well but I'd rather have that professionally dyed for sake of aesthetics. Dead bacteria under clothes do not seem to care about aesthetics. Already did it with my socks. They're all oddly colored, but no matter how many days in a row I've worn them to make them smell, a few-12 or so hours out of the shoe and the smell just...fades to a regular "human" smell (like if someone showered vigorously without soap. It's actually a rather neutral-pleasant smell). This is partially also because even after weeks without a shower or scrub in the river I still somehow retain my sense of smell of myself. It's... terrible. Would not wish it on anyone. Losing that sense of smell is an absolute gift, I say! :D :')))) So, in this and in a few other cases, having everything being self sanitizing is much more convenient. Plus, if it's strong enough, as the compounds I chose/currently use are non-toxic even if ingested directly in large quantities before dyeing, I can use my dry spare shirt as a self-sterilizing wound dressing if needed (just rinse w/clean water, or river water and leave it for a few hours if worried about exogenous compound contamination, but it is/should be fortunately quite sterile), or if my water filter breaks, I can simply clean an article of clothing thoroughly (soapless) in the water supply, then suspend it in whichever water vessel I'm putting contaminated water in for a few hours to sterilize it nearly completely. Won't remove petroleum derivatives or anything like that (unless the fabric adsorption really is that good), unfortunately, but bacteria/viruses/etc are one of the big kickers. You can see how oligodynamic materials open up a new world of safety, comfort, convenience, and light weight in the world of ultralight backpacking. Currently I'm working as well on building a carrying system that uses all of my day to day elements but does not involve a backpack. Test run alpha1 is today. Hurray! :')))) :3 <3 <3 <3 <3 :')))) [Final note: I'm not a doctor, this is not medical advice, I carry niacinamide for emergency treatment of infectious that do not respond to antibiotics. It can and will kill MRSA in many cases as well due to the fact that it causes the body to upregulate a huge variety of anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-parasitic, etc proteins, i.e. the body's own broad spectrum antibiotics. I encourage everyone to carry 5-6+ 500mg pills in their emergency kit and an adjunct, even if to slow down progression while out of civilization. I could go on about these topics for a long time, I'm an empirical researcher, darn it! It's how my brain seems to be. :3]
- fellowniusmonk 3y ago
  If you don't mind me asking, what dyes have you found effective?
  - tbalsam 3y ago
    Copper pthalocyanidine (generally good-looking+most accessible that I know of, so I've stuck with that <3 :')), you can get it as powder online (cheapest+lightest) or as watercolor paint (it's called Pthalo Blue -- yes, of Bob Ross fame. Phalo Green has Cobalt IIRC, not the same, dunno about toxicity there. Check to make sure the dye is pure Copper Pthalocyanidine on the manufacturers website). I'm sure there are others, but the ones I've found don't bind nearly as well unfortunately, which is what we care about (transforming fabrics, proteins, compounds, etc to become an oligodynamic surface when not previously. As an aside, finding a silver compound of some sort that is A. Not damaging long-term, and B. acid-dyeing compatible would truly be my dream! <3 :'))))) Acid dye in a pot you don't care about as much (or not, it's your life!), citric acid in the canning section is the easiest to get. I use maybe 3-4 tablespoons or so. Add maybe a tablespoon of salt too. Make it easier on yourself by putting warm water in the pot, adding the watercolor, and stirring until well mixed. Then run water from the faucet into the sink until it's as hot as it can get, and fill it almost all of the way. Then mix in your salt and acid. _Make sure you don't have bleach in your clothes, the acid will turn it into chlorine gas. In large quantities this can chemically destroy your lungs and if you're too far gone you'll suffocate. Not likely if you're careful, just adding the warning. If you've pre-bleached, rinse several times very thoroughly and soak until there is no more bleach remaining_. Then add clothing, and heat water until it's maybe ~150-170 degrees or so, I just use a touch test (can handle up to 1-1.5 seconds) and err on the lower heat side, leaving it for a few hours. Stir and move the clothes so they have even contact with the water. Otherwise you'll get a blotchy dye. See Reddit for more details. I like the blotches, they're cute and add tons of personality. Continue until the water is nearly clear. Acid dyeing will oftentimes soak up almost all of the dye in the water. Let it cool, run it through several rinses in the washing machine. You can pour the warm liquid and clothes straight in. If you didn't have enough salt it might not be colorfast. Repeat 2-3 times or more or until satisfied with the color. You can also do this with your skin, a plastic barrier, and an (please be safe!!!!!!) appropriately warm heat source. For certain parts where skin cells rub off and give off an acrid odor when decaying, dyeing the outer layer lasts for about a week, looks a semi-deathly, semi-traditional-scottish-impression color of a deeper cyan blue, and resists bacterial growth for the time. As these cells are dyed, when they come off they will be self-sterilizing, reducing the off-byproducts afterwards. You can simply then rinse it off your clothing, and yourself, in a sink, shower, river, while traveling or the like, etc, etc. In the right circumstances, few people will be staring at your armpits, etc with the right clothing. :3 <3 :')))) <3 Also, if you have two gallon ziplock bags (nested, one as the 'outer catcher', be sure to remove air to keep all garments as submerged as possible, and you control your temperature well, and do not care as much about your water use, you can dye garments in a hotel room sink this way. You can also minimize water wastage (especially if the sink has an overflow system) by setting a continuous 'hot-as-possible' slow drip. Check it it 1, 2, and 5 minutes in to make sure the rate has not changed or the water temperature, when doing the drip method initially it can seem hot enough because the hot water is very "fresh", but slowing it down can cause an equilibrium where it is cooler due to the lag time in arriving from the water heater. (Also, if you do use this method in the future, please do let me know! I'd love to know someone else is doing this too and if there's any ambiguity, possible improvements, etc etc....) As you can see, I am an absolute fanatic for low-resource, high-quality (or high-quality result, at least), engineering. I could happily talk about this for hours or any particular usecase you might have, there are many ways to approach things. I've used these methods (among others similarly creative;P) to remove a surprising amount of weight from my backpacking kit, and I have much more flexibility too. This is also how I approach neural network research, but I love this domain as it's one that's directly relatable to many people, and somewhat allows me to be seen in what I feel I'm best at. In any case, thank you for reading this if you made it this far, as I noted before, I would absolutely be overjoyed to talk about any usecases you might have <3 :)))) :')))) <3
atoav 3y ago
Afaik this is still used in compound packaging materials (e.g. tetrapak). Traditionally in the alps richer families would put a silver spoon into their milk for similar reasons.
- tbalsam 3y ago
  This is fascinating, wow. Thank you for sharing that. If it was not clear from my earlier oligodynamic post, I'm autistic and the fewer day-disrupting routines I have (washing cup with soap, I'm allergic to almost any detergent so it's a ....very long and stressful process to make it 'drinkable' and safe-feeling [unfortunately only detergent seems to get the biofilm]) the better. I've heard of farmers putting copper pennies in their rain barrels (yes, it actually works, apparently increases the amount of copper ions in the water a decent bit though IIRC? There's some downside), I hadn't thought of the silver contact bit. I struggle with cups building biofilm quickly, I'll have to electroplate some with silver or just put a piece of silver in there in the meantime to keep it clean for longer-term storage.
  - schiffern 3y ago
    Much happier with my symptoms since I switched to using (unscented) Dr Bronner soap. All organic and food safe ingredients. I buy the liquid and use it in a foaming dispenser.[0] The same folks make an actual detergent called Sal's Suds. Very drying but works well. I did use it, but these days I use the regular Castile soap for everything. Your mileage may vary of course. Unscented oxyclean (they do make it!) is a godsend for laundry, dishwasher, etc. Absolutely zero residue. For biofilms, cheap dollar store nylon scrub brushes (no "gummy" handle) are fantastic, and also their cheap multi-pack toothbrushes. Soaking in soapy water for 5-10 minutes (I set a timer) is surprisingly powerful. Almost accidentally, I find myself using just one drinking cup. This does keep it very manageable. I rarely burn things anymore, but 3M scouring pads from Lowes have saved more than a couple pots. :) Adaptation is a continuous learning process! Hope some of this can help or inspire. cheers. [0] https://www.lisabronner.com/making-a-foaming-hand-soap-with-castile-soap/ https://www.lisabronner.com/making-a-foaming-hand-soap-with-...
Modified3019 3y ago
Yeah, in the USA outside of some rare exceptions, anything that makes claims of killing or controlling a pest, whether weed, bug or microbe, becomes a "pesticide" and enters a realm with a LOT of expensive regulation and testing on efficacy claims, target safety, and non-target safety. Most companies will quickly opt out of that shitshow. For example, you can't just decide to sell acetic acid (vinegar) claiming it's a weed killer without following the same rules as the megacorps. And it's also why if you took jugs of "unregistered" grocery store vinegar, and applied it as a pesticide, you can get in big trouble. Now no one will really care if you do it as a homeowner unless you get really carried away, but if you were a commercial applicator of some kind then expect trouble if caught. This is what that warning "It is a violation of federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with it's labeling" stamped on everything means. This leads into weird scenarios where things like some ordinary phosphorus foliar fertilizers have a mild antimicrobial effect (I believe mostly against fungus, but I don't recall clearly) and everyone knows it. However no one can make that specific claim as part of a sale, because then the cheap fertilizer becomes an expensive pesticide. So an agronomist and farmer just wink and say "yeah, those plants with a fungal outbreak could sure use some nutrition to help it's vitality". Note that on it's own the phosphorous isn't likely to control anything, but can definitely help in combination with a real control, or delay how soon control is needed possibly saving a regulated spray. I believe the EU recognizes one of the phosphorous fertilizer forms as a pesticide, and thus growers here cannot apply it if that is where the crop will be exported. To be clear, you absolutely do NOT want companies to apply things willy-nilly as pesticides. They have repeatedly demonstrated the lack of ability to self regular and as such will always race to the bottom of irresponsibility. But there are definitely a lot of seemingly brain dead consequences involved. However it makes more sense when you consider the long term environmental and pest resistance consequences involved. Silver for example has implications that need to be watched when in constant contact with food and thus ingestion [note 0] and buildup of silver ions in the environment [note 1]. Organisms can and will become resistant to silver and copper, especially if one applies constant heavy selective environmental pressure. As such, our laws are in this instance are in fact doing what they were intended to do, regardless of obvious failures in other areas of concern. [note 0]: Let's just ignore for a moment that silver is remarkably safe and doesn't seem to act as a disruptive "heavy metal" because it's bound safely so quickly. Even in extreme amounts taken by fanatics, tissue pigmentation is seemingly all that happens. Meanwhile the plastic used for the containers that is in contact with your food is likely far worse in comparison. [note 1]: Let's just ignore the massive failure of regulating the effects of all the other antimicrobials, microplastics and pharmaceuticals dumped in the water supply...

tomjakubowski 3y ago

Does Pepto-Bismol indiscriminately kill bacteria in the gut then by this effect?

tbalsam 3y ago
I would assert so, oddly enough different metals kill different bacteria, let's see. I shall now search ncbi and see: Bismuth apparently has action, especially highlighted against E. Coli: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8236042/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8236042/ One study found few significant changes on normal fecal microflora before and after during a 1-2 day treatment period (I'm assuming this is a 'normal use' case :')))): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2305174/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2305174/
boppo1 3y ago
[flagged]
- wolfgang42 3y ago
  boppo1 is a bot account. The spamming of identical comments is a dead giveaway. There, see how easy and unhelpful that was? ;-) Also, slinging spurious accusations at someone who’s written some quite interesting comments doesn’t seem like it adds much value to the conversation; and besides, consider the https://xkcd.com/810/ https://xkcd.com/810/ (“constructive spam”) effect.
  - boppo1 3y ago
    Spamming identical comments would make me a bot, not AI. The emojis are not the only giveaway, they're just the easiest to point out. It's clear you haven't spent much time at all talking to llama if you don't see all the giveaways. What an interesting time we're heading into.

hammock 3y ago

Silver in tableware, doorknobs, etc… passive anti microbial effect

XorNot 3y ago
Same with brass and copper - copper has an antimicrobial effect in the same way.
- EricE 3y ago
  Yes - one of the reasons I'm not too thrilled with the trend towards plastic plumbing.

0xDEFACED 3y ago

Thanks for adding a new word to my vocabulary! I knew that silver had antimicrobial properties but didn’t know the phenomenon had a name. I think the material described in the article is a bit more novel than you’re giving it credit for though. The article has an image showing an intact bacteria on polished titanium next to a ruptured bacteria on this new surface. My guess is that the increased surface area of this new material allows for the oligodynamic effect to act more quickly.