Are silver products a scam? Which is better-ionic, structured or nanoparticle silver?
Is structured silver different than other silver?
I heard on a Dr. Yoho podcast that the interviewee (I believe it was the Kerri Rivera podcast) stated that she only uses structured silver, not colloidal silver.
When Dr. Yoho asked her to share the brand, she stated she would provide it offline.
I found that very odd. If she touts structured silver, why the secrecy?
Thus, my curiosity was piqued, and it got me thinking about the difference between structured silver and the silver hydrosol I use.
(Ignore my writing on the bottle; those were instructions for the dog’s water bowl while we were away.)
I emailed the company of the brand I use, and their response is below. (The Bold highlighting is from me.)
Dear Dr. Brennan,
In answer to your question, please see the microphotographic comparison of Argentyn 23 Bio-Active Silver Hydrosol vs. pH Structured Silver, https://argentyn23.com/the-science-of-silver/product-comparison-tool/, which I believe you were referencing having heard about on a webinar.
That’s a brand name of apparently another product made, including the brand names Structured Silver and pH Structured Silver, a dubious British Columbia-based Canadian company that appears to have taken much of their playbook from American Bio-tech Labs, a Utah manufacturer of a lot of sub-par colloidal silver products, mostly bottled in plastic, with this being a glass bottled exception.
Either way, look at the micro-photographic comparison and see for yourself their grotesque particle size and lack of particle dispersion in stark contrast to the near perfection exhibited by Argentyn 23 Bio-Active Silver Hydrosol (BASH) at 135,000x magnification, proving the most uniform dispersion of our 99.999% ultrapure silver suspended in pharmaceutical-grade purified water in pre-washed non-reactive glass bottles.
Why does no other manufacturer supply you with TEM analyses of their colloidal silver products? Because only Bio-Active Silver Hydrosol is characterized by micro-photographic evidence of particle size, particle dispersion (collectively known as speciation) and purity.
You will know Argentyn 23 and Sovereign Silver for their unmatched performance and non-toxicity profiles, which is why clinicians and consumers alike choose our products over most others by a wide margin.
Please feel free to reach out to me directly with any additional questions you may have.
We sincerely appreciate your endorsement and your recommendation of our world-class Argentyn 23 product line.
Yours In Sovereign Health,
Seth Quinto
Sales Manager - Professional Division
www.Argentyn23.com | www.SovereignSilver.com | www.SovereignCopper.com
Note: Sovereign Silver is a direct-to-consumer brand.
The comparison tool link in Seth’s response provides a list of other silver products and a comparison of PPM and pictures.
Under the picture comparisons, they have this comment:
Magnified at 135,000x, it’s easy to see the large, variable sizes of silver particles found in competitor brands, along with clumping that indicates neutral and useless particles.
In comparison, the ultra fine particles in Argentyn 23 are barely detectable with no clumpingand no inconsistency.
From their Sovereign Silver Site, they state that structured silver is a marketing ploy, and you can read that information here.
But here is a bit of information from that post on their site here:
Technically speaking, any water that contains any ions can be called structured water, and any time silver ions are dissolved in water it can be called a form of ‘structured silver’.
By nature, all colloidal silvers and ionic silvers can be referred to as structured silver, but the structure does not increase efficacy* or safety*. These properties are still directly related to the size of the particle and the concentration. Therefore, “Structured Silver” is yet another marketing term to be used in the confusing colloidal silver category, much like the marketing term “True Colloidal Silver”.
So, what they are saying above refers to the pictures from the comparison tool in which Argentyn/Sovereign Silver manufacturers state their products have smaller particle sizes and tout that this makes them more effective.
The skeptic in me is hesitant to believe information directly from the manufacturer’s site stating the downside to their competitors (even though I have their products!)
Researchers looked at 14 silver products.
Then, I found this research article by Kumar and Goia (2020), in which 14 silver products from Amazon were tested. My biggest concern is the source (Amazon) and whether the products were counterfeits.
The study is interesting because they studied the Argentyn and Sovereign Silver brands and “structured silver” brands such as the American Biotech brand.
The researchers found that 10 of the 14 products contained only ionic silver, not nanoparticles, even though the label stated it contained nanoparticles.
The researchers indicated that ionic particles are different from nanoparticles and have been shown to be more effective for microbial effects than ionic silver.
Regardless, the researchers found that all samples evaluated contained enough silver ions capable of antimicrobial properties irrespective of whether they contained nanoparticles.
The Argentyn brand states that the bottle contains ions and nanoparticles, but the researchers did not detect any nanoparticles.
Brands that contain nanoparticles
They only found nanoparticles in three brands.
Purest Colloids/www.purestcolloids.com
Silver Wings/www.NPSWsilver.com
Noble Elements/www.coatedsilver.com
Is Colloidal Silver Just a Scam?
If you think silver is a scam, then ask yourself why it is being used in medicinal applications and examined by medical professionals as an alternative due to the overuse of antibiotics that no longer provide benefits.
This research article by Sim et al. (20180) identified a long list of silver applications for clinical and medical use, such as on implants and medical devices, dental materials, and wound-healing bandages. Silver is even in shower gels and deodorants.
Bottom Line
It appears that any silver product containing ionic silver will still have antimicrobial properties, but choose one that is verified to have nanoparticles for greater efficacy.
The researchers did not indicate anything about particle size differences, which the Argentyn brand touts as being why their brand is superior.
Structured silver appears to be more of a marketing ploy. It is not superior to ionic or nanoparticle products but is the same as ionic silver (or correct me if I am misinformed, but also clarify why!).
I have been a longtime user of Argentyn. As an ionic silver, it has antimicrobial properties and is stored in amber glass jars (to ensure stability and quality).
But perhaps it is time to keep one on hand containing nanoparticles. Either way, I will continue to keep a colloidal silver product on hand.
Have you used silver products, and if so, for what purpose, and was it effective? Is there a brand that you “swear by”?
Update May 2025
My views evolve and current views may not reflect what was written in previous posts. I am sharing a link of Dr. Kauffman’s review on silver. I still think colloidal silver in some instances, used for short-term can be useful.
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I forgot to add that I used it on my dog's ear infection and that also went away.
I can tell you I suffered a sore throat from pollen allergies for nearly 4 weeks until someone suggested I gargle with colloidal silver. I had it on hand from someone who makes it locally. My sore throat was gone almost instantly and has not returned nearly two weeks later. I believe this stuff to be magic.