ARGYRIA COLLOIDAL SILVER BLUE SKIN

What are the clinical features of argyria?

There may be a genetic predisposition for argyria. Circus freak Captain Fred Walters the blue man, ingested silver nitrate to deepen his colour and improve his income, but died from the habit. In several cases patients were manufacturing colloidal silver suspension at home using instructions downloaded from the Internet. Silver toxicity is rare today. However, there have been several reports of people getting argyria after using colloidal silver-based products as ‘cure-alls’. Most absorbed silver is excreted in faeces and some in the urine. Some of this silver is carried as a salt and may be deposited in various tissues, with highest concentrations found in the skin, liver, spleen and adrenals. Silver taken orally or absorbed by mucous membranes is carried through blood bound to the plasma protein albumin. Most occupational argyria is due to the direct impregnation of silver salts from prolonged contact with skin.

ARGYRIA COLLOIDAL SILVER BLUE SKIN

Silver enters the body either by mechanical impregnation of the skin by small silver particles or by ingestion of silver compounds. Surgical and dental procedures – silver sutures used in abdominal surgery and silver dental fillings (amalgam tattoos).Colloidal silver dietary supplements – marketed widely as a treatment for arthritis, diabetes, cancer, herpetic infections and AIDS.Medication with silver salts – prolonged use of silver salts for the irrigation of urethral or nasal mucous membranes, in eye drops, wound dressing, and excessive use of an oral smoking remedy containing silver acetate.

Occupational exposure – mainly in workers involved in silver mining, silver refining, silverware and metal alloy manufacturing, metallic films on glass and china electroplating solutions, and photographic processing.

There are several sources of exposure to silver. Argyria is a condition characterised by bluish-grey to slate-grey staining of the skin and mucous membranes caused by deposition of silver particles in the skin.

Argyria colloidal silver blue