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Colloidal Silver Can Leave You Feeling Blue

And Looking Blue as Well

July 24, 2007
You can take colloidal silver until you’re blue in the face – literally.

People take the dietary supplement for everything from colds to a pick me up, but the Harvard Health Letter says the substance can have a strange side effect – turning the skin a bluish color.

Silver has several uses in conventional medicine, the article in the August 2007 issue of the Letter points out. Silver sulfadiazine is used to treat serious burns. Fabric impregnated with silver is sometimes used as a dressing for wounds or skin infections. And silver nitrate is occasionally used to treat warts and corns.

But there’s no proof that taking colloidal silver by mouth has any benefits, the authors say. As for harm, brain and nerve damage from silver exposure is rare, but colloidal silver can cause kidney damage, stomach distress, and headaches, they say.

The most common problem associated with silver exposure is argyria: The skin turns a bluish gray as granules of silver accumulate in the body.

The conjunctiva, the membrane that covers the eyes, and internal organs may also be affected. Once silver is deposited, there’s no way to get it out, so the discoloration may be permanent.

Will the colloidal silver products currently on the market turn you blue? The health letter says if you use them for a short time and in recommended amounts, probably not. But some people overdo it.

For example, a 59-year-old man was sent to the emergency room because he looked cyanotic—the bluish color that indicates you’re not getting enough oxygen. It turned out he’d been taking a homemade version of colloidal silver whenever he felt a cold coming on.

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