History - Colloidal Silver has been used over the centuries in different forms as a purifying and preserving agent. The history of this unique substance dates back to ancient Greece and Rome where people used silver containers to keep liquids fresh. The American Pioneers put silver dollars in bottles of milk to prevent spoilage, and laboratory workers sterilized petri dishes by putting silver dimes in them. In our modern times, more than half of the world's airlines use silver water filters to help protect against waterborne diseases, NASA uses a silver water purification system in the space shuttle, the newest medical-surgical instruments are now being made infused with silver ions to help fight infection, and silver is sometimes used in the everyday world as an alternative to chlorine in swimming pool purification.

Science - A simple definition of a colloidal system is a series of superfine particles suspended in water using electricity as the means of suspension and bonding. So then, Colloidal Silver is silver particles suspended in deionized water with the silver particles bound together with the water. Since the electricity gives the silver particles a positive charge, they repel each other like magnets do, leaving the silver particles suspended, instead of dissolving or sinking to the bottom of the container. Hence, the silver remains suspended in the solution, held there by an electric charge.

How it works - Colloidal Silver disables the enzyme that one-celled organisms (like fungi, viruses, and bacteria) need to metabolize oxygen. Without the oxygen, these one-celled organisms die. Simply put, they suffocate. Colliodal Silver helps to fight against over 650 disease causing organisms in these categories: viruses (the common cold, the flu, measles, and AIDS), bacteria (typhoid, dyptheria, come food poisonings, and pneumonia), fungi (ringworm, candida albicans, thrush, and athlete's foot), protozoa (malaria and amebic dysentery), and chlamydiae (infections of the eye, the genitals, and the respiratory system). Silver ions also supplement and support T-cells in fighting foreign organisms. There is also a correlation between occurrence of illness and the level of silver in the body, with people who are ill generally registering lower levels of silver in their body.

Differences from Antibiotics - Antibiotics attack bateria directly to kill them. The problem is that bacteria can adapt by mutation, so that an antibiotic becomes less and less effective the more that it is used. But since Colloidal Silver decomposes the enzyme bacteria use to breathe, the silver's effectiveness remains intact. No matter how many times a bacteria mutates, it always needs to breathe and therefore can always be suffocated by the silver. Also, antibiotics kill beneficial enzymes while killing the bactera. Colloidal Silver does not. That's why your immune system is weak after a round of antibiotics. Silver is non-toxic.

An important note - In prolonged heavy internal doses, some Colloidal Silver compounds will leave deposits in the heavier skin folds (like the knuckles) and leaves a permanent gray color to the skin. This is called Argyria, which is very rare and most often is associated with products that use particles of silver which are too large to be flushed out of the body naturally. Therefore, when you take Colloidal Silver internally, make sure that the product contains particles in the size range from .005 to .015 microns in diameter to assure that the body can wash the silver out of itself naturally. Since Envirosheild is applied topically, this does not apply.