Much has been stated about using H2O2 with colloidal silver as an additive to stabilize the Cs and to assist the antibacterial activity. H2O2 is a natural weapon used by most of your cells to oxidize pathogens and the combination has recently been well researched as a sterilizer for potable water systems.
ABSTRACT
"The experimental investigation carried out jointly by Italian and Israeli teams within
a 3-year research project funded by the European Commission on alternative disinfection
methods for reusing municipal waste water in agriculture is described. Disinfection
effectiveness of UV rays, ozone (O3) and peracetic acid (PAA) at pilot scale and hydrogen
peroxide (H2O2) plus silver (Ag+) or copper (Cu+2) at laboratory scale was compared for
tertiary municipal effluents. Pilot plant results indicated that the well known California
limit (2 CFU/100ml of Total Coliforms) was effectively met with reasonable UV doses of
100-160 mWs/cm2 or with exceedingly high PAA dosage (400 PPM); the related WHO microbial
guideline (1,000 CFU/100 ml of Fecal Coliforms) was easily met with all three disinfectants
(UV, PAA, O3); maximum log-inactivation values were =5 for UV and PAA and =4 for O3.
Laboratory results with tertiary effluents demonstrated that Ag+ was able to inactivate
target bacteria (E. coli-B, E. coli-K12), while H2O2 was more effective than Ag+ against
MS-2 phages. Copper (250 g/l) had no bactericidal effect but possessed an appreciable
viricidal effect. When hydrogen peroxide and copper were combined, a pronounced increase
in both bactericidal and viricidal effects was obtained. "
Water Science and Technology Vol 35 No 11-12 pp 87-93 © IWA Publishing 1997
Silver and hydrogen peroxide as potential drinking water disinfectants: their
bactericidal effects and possible modes of action
R. Pedahzur*, H. I. Shuval* and S. Ulitzur**
*Department of Environmental Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem
Israel
**Department of Food Engineering and Biotechnology, Technion Haifa 32000 Israel
ABSTRACT
"Silver and hydrogen peroxide (HP) acted synergistically on the viability of E. coli
K-12. In certain concentration ranges the synergistic effect amounted to about 3 logs.
Toxicity process kinetics were determined by following the decrease in luminescence of
a highly luminescent recombinant E. coli harbouring a plasmid carrying the whole lux
system of Vibrio fischeri. As in the viability studies, silver and HP also showed a
synergistic effect on in vivo luminescence, which amounted to a 2 log increase in toxicity.
A similar phenomenon was found for silver and certain metal ions, including Cu2+, Ni2+,
Zn2+ and Cd2+, where toxicity increased by a factor of 10 in the presence of sub-inhibitory
concentrations of silver. To monitor the expression of different stress response systems in
treated cells, we have used E. coli carrying fusions of the lux system to promoters of
different stress-controlling genes. Of the fusions tested, HP substantially increased the
activity of recA, katG, micF, grpE, lon, and dnaK. Silver exerted a mild effect acting
only on grpE and lon promoters. When in combination, a synergistic induction of the dnaK
fusion and a slightly additive effect on grpE fusion were recorded. It appears that the
combined toxic effect of silver and HP may be related with damage to cellular proteins.
Nevertheless, the involvement of other cellular moieties can not be ruled out. The
possibility that the synergistic effect is related to chemical interactions between silver
and HP and the consequent increase in their toxicity is discussed. "
Efficacy of Copper/Silver Ion with Reduced Chlorine Concentrations on Disinfection and Operation of a Municipal Swimming Pool.
http//www.epa.gov/safewater/consumer/2ndstandards.html The EPA site for National Secondary Drinking Water Regulations that set non-mandatory water quality standards for the silver and copper, at approximately 40% of EPA accepted levels in drinking water sources!
The Allegheny County Pennsylvania Health Department conducted a test on a 152,000 gallon public pool for an entire season. The average bather load was 200 people per day. The only disinfectant used was 20 ppb of silver. The health department found the water totally free of coliform, pseudomonas and staphylococcus bacteria throughout the season, whereas 65 water samples from 30 other chlorine treated swimming pools in Allegheny County, having a mean concentration of 0.70 ppm of chlorine, did routinely show the presence of bacteria.
A report on the the advantages of using a dual stage method of sanitation
The University of Arizona and a certified independent lab, both recently demonstrated that even 0.10 ppm of chlorine is very effective in treating a pool when there are copper and silver ions present in the pool.
It is not a question of whether using copper and silver or using chlorine is the better way to keep a swimming pool sanitized and algae free. A good case can be made for either methods. Studies have shown that an ideal method is to use a combination of all three elements.
G.R. Taylor, at Surrey University, proposed a dual disinfection method after his tests showed that
"Two different chemicals of metals added together may allow more efficient disinfection kinetics to be achieved. One substance targets the surface of a micro-organism killing and injuring the cells while a second substance targets the nucleic acid of the micro-organism destroying the remaining injured micro-organisms. By using this method of dual disinfection, reduced levels of both substances may be more effective than much higher levels of either individual substance."
The major advantages of this dual, or two stage disinfection method, are as follows
The Copper-Silver System
A common and very effective method of purifying swimming pools is to use electronically produced copper and silver ions. It was previously promoted that copper was a more effective algaecide and silver the more effective bactericide. More recent studies have shown each to be highly effective in the control and killing of both bacteria and algae. Together they give superior results. Copper has the ability to pierce the protective outer membrane of a cell and disrupt enzyme balance. Silver is effective because of its capabilities of interfering with DNA production and accelerating the death phase. This method has the advantage over chlorine of remaining very stable in swimming pools. The pool will stay sanitized for days or weeks with the system turned off and no additional copper or silver being added.
Copper and silver are not absorbed through the skin and, therefore, are not carried out of the pool by swimmers. They are also not affected by sunlight and actually become slightly more effective as the water is heated or the pH increases.
Copper and silver are safe. At the normal recommended levels of copper in a swimming pool, a person would have to drink over two gallons of pool water just to get the amount of copper in one vitamin pill. A glass of EPA approved tap water could have five times as much copper in it as a glass of swimming pool water. The tap water could also have five times as much silver as a glass of pool water.
The Environmental Protection Agency completely limits on silver in drinking water are 100 parts per billion, more then needed in a pool!
A multitude of tests have shown the effectiveness of copper and silver in killing E. Coli bacteria. Many other tests have shown that silver also kills viruses and other types of bacteria. Coleman reported that herpes simplex virus (HSV) type I was quite sensitive to silver.4 Richards reported that only 3 ug/1 silver was necessary to prevent the growth of pseudomonas.5 Moroz reported that silver kills salmonella and E. Coli and can kill bacteria highly resistant to antibiotics.
The Silver Institute , Washington, D.C., issued a report showing that a 20,000 gallon pool in Lincoln, Nebraska, infused with 50 gallons of sewer effluent was purified to a zero level with only 3.2 ppb of silver in the water as the disinfectant.
Dr. Charles Gerba at the University of Arizona in Tucson reported recently that legionella pneumophila (which causes the lethal legionnaire's disease and which can be present in swimming pools) was killed approximately 100 times faster when the system was used to add 0.20 ppm of copper and 20 ppb of silver to 0.20 ppm of chlorine as compared to the use of chlorine itself. Legionella is very resistant to even higher levels of chlorine.
Tests performed by Dr. Friede at Villanova University showed that in swimming pool water containing ammonia (a typical swimming pool condition) silver was a much faster and more effective sanitizer than chlorine.
Eighty minutes was required for a virtually complete kill of pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria using chlorine versus only twenty minutes using silver. Likewise, silver took only one minute for a 70% kill compared to ten minutes for chlorine.
If you look at the "negative electrode sludge" with a 100 power microscope you will see a "log jam tangle" of rather large dendritic crystals (metallic silver). Shaking the batch will break the log jam apart but the crystals need a more violent energy to fracture them. Since metallic silver is a catalyst for the breakdown of H2O2 to water and oxygen gas, it can provide the intersticial force, from bubble formation, to break the weak crystals down to possibly an atomic size.
I would liken the H2O2 effect to the solvating action of bipolar water molecules on soluble salts (fractures compounds, just as enzymes do complex molecules) except in this case the gas formation gives an interstitial fracturing action. Reports by others say there is a small increase in ions, as measured with an ion specific electrode, from H2O2 but not enough to indicate a major conversion of the metallic content. I would attribute that to a grossly increased silver surface area and thus higher solubility.
Ionic Colloidal Silver has a distinct bitter taste while metallic silver colloids have a distinct metallic taste, as would be expected. It is a simple test to see if you bought a semi-useless metallic silver colloid.
Others have reported on the increased effectiveness of the combination of H2O2 and ionic Cs on patients and much has been written about "most infections start in the ears and can also be treated/cured there" with Colloidal Silver.