# Colloidal silver

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/colloidal-silver/  
OnCo record `colloidal-silver` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Colloidal silver is promoted as a cure for cancer, AIDS and infections, with no human evidence that taking it by mouth does anything useful. Long-term use deposits silver in the skin and turns it permanently blue-grey, and it has caused seizures, kidney damage and nerve damage. It should never be used in pregnancy.

## Summary

Colloidal silver is a suspension of silver particles in liquid, often made with home generators. Memorial Sloan Kettering's About Herbs entry states that silver is not an essential mineral and has no physiological function, that silver medicines were replaced by safer therapies decades ago, and that although in vitro studies show antitumour effects, no human data support oral use, despite its promotion as a cure for AIDS, cancer and diabetes. A small study of a silver nasal spray found no benefit in chronic sinusitis. Long-term use causes argyria, a bluish-grey skin pigmentation that is typically permanent, and MSK lists case reports of seizures, glomerulonephritis in a woman with T-cell lymphoma who took a silver remedy, vasculitis, optic and peripheral neuropathy, and acute myeloid leukaemia in a man who had taken colloidal silver for over 10 years after prostate cancer surgery (a single case that does not show cause). It can cause developmental abnormalities in a fetus. The US Food and Drug Administration has warned companies marketing colloidal silver with false claims about COVID-19.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: negative
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Also known as: Silver solution; Silver hydrosol
- Tags: complementary; supportive-care; evidence:harm
- Principle: Silver ions bind sulphydryl groups and denature proteins, which kills microbes on surfaces and wounds; in the body the same chemistry accumulates in skin and organs.
- Strengths: None established for oral use
- Limitations: No human evidence of benefit; Permanent argyria, seizures, kidney and nerve damage; Teratogenic; regulators have acted against false claims

## Sources

- MSK About Herbs: Colloidal silver (page last updated 10 February 2023): https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/colloidal-silver

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- bottlenecks: [Misinformation and unproven therapies](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-misinformation/)

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