Using Colloidal Silver With 35% Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide (H202)
A member of the popular Colloidal Silver Secrets Community on Facebook recently presented the following question:
“Steve, what are your thoughts on adding the ratio of 1:1000 of 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide to colloidal silver?
I see a lot of posts about this on the net. They say in order to make a proper colloidal silver solution where the majority of the silver in the liquid, at least 85%, is ionized and suspended in water. They say hydrogen peroxide has been shown to greatly increase the efficacy of the colloidal silver solution. The hydrogen peroxide breaks apart and reduces the size of the ionized silver particles.
Steve is this true or are they a bunch of quacks? I imagine you have read about this process. I am very interested in hearing your thoughts on this.”
Since I receive variations on this question at least several times a month, it’s obviously time to address it.
Here’s My Answer:
Let me state first that I understand there is a long history in the use of hydrogen peroxide for healing.I’ve read many works on the topic. I’ve used it myself, sparingly. I prefer colloidal silver.
That said, at this time I’m a skeptic on the question of adding hydrogen peroxide to colloidal silver for the purpose of ingesting it to help fight internal infections.
I have used the combination of these two substances for external (i.e., topical) purposes, as I’ll explain later, below. But until there is more evidence for its safety, I cannot advocate the combination of hydrogen peroxide with colloidal silver for internal use.
Here’s why…
The use of small amounts of hydrogen peroxide combined with colloidal silver is based on studies conducted at water treatment plants – not in human usage. In these water treatment plant studies, silver particles and small amounts of hydrogen peroxide were combined in an attempt to curb the growth of water-borne bacteria.
The upshot of the studies was that the combination of hydrogen peroxide with silver particles produced significantly greater bacterial “killing power” in the water treatment plants than either of the two substances by themselves.
This has led some colloidal silver users to conjecture that combining small amounts of hydrogen peroxide and colloidal silver, and drinking it, will increase the bacterial “killing power” of the substances in the human body.
No Studies
To my knowledge, there has NEVER been a study to determine how the reaction between these two substances works in the human body, for good or for bad.
I say this because, while I defend everyone’s right to experiment on themselves if they want to (as I reserve this same right for myself), my goal is to promote the safe, sane and responsible use of colloidal silver.
It would simply be irresponsible of me to fail to tell you there are no safety studies on the internal ingestion of colloidal silver and hydrogen peroxide combined.
What’s more, there are no studies demonstrating most of the supposed attributes of combining hydrogen peroxide with colloidal silver, such as the idea that this combination somehow makes the silver particles “more bioavailable” in the human body. It’s all pure conjecture.
Caustic Combination
Please note that silver and hydrogen peroxide are a caustic combination – caustic meaning corrosive, capable of burning, corroding, dissolving, or eating away by chemical action.
Indeed, combined in the right amounts, silver and hydrogen peroxide are an absolutely explosive combination – so much so that these two substances were used to power our country’s rockets in the early days of our national rocket program after WWI and WWII.
Indeed, when silver and hydrogen peroxide meet, pure, flammable oxygen is thrown off at a very furious rate. The powerful reaction between these two substances begins rapidly, and can continue for hours depending upon the amount of silver and the amount of H202 in the solution.
A quote from the How Stuff Works web site:
“Hydrogen peroxide’s chemical formula is H2O2. When it comes into contact with silver, the silver acts as a catalyst. The reaction frees the extra oxygen atom to produce water, and also generates a lot of heat. The heat turns the water into steam, which the engine can eject at a very high speed through a rocket nozzle.”
A Simple Demonstration
You can demonstrate the explosive nature of these two substances for yourself by taking 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide and pouring some into an eight-ounce glass container, and then dropping two 6″ pieces of pure silver wire into the glass. The reaction will be so strong it will actually bubble over violently onto the table, and it will keep doing so for hours afterwards.
What’s more, if you touch it with your bare hands it will burn your skin. (Of course, 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide will burn your skin anyway, but adding silver to it makes an even more caustic end product; it will also blind you if you get it into your eyes).
You can do a safer version of this experiment using typical household 3% hydrogen peroxide. It won’t bubble nearly as much as the 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide. But the reaction will nevertheless be substantial.
Of course, I understand that the ratio of hydrogen peroxide combined with colloidal silver (1:1000 H202 to colloidal silver) discussed on the internet sites advocating this combination for internal use against infections are extremely minuscule compared to the examples above.
So please understand I’m definitely not saying if you combine H202 with colloidal silver at a 1:1000 ratio, you’ll get rocket fuel. You won’t. And it won’t bubble over all over your floor. In fact, the reaction will be basically unnoticeable to the human eye.
But…there will nevertheless be a caustic reaction taking place between silver and the hydrogen peroxide when combined in ANY ratio.
And most importantly of all, there is simply no way to know what kind of potential damage to soft tissue inside the body this ongoing caustic reaction between the two substances may cause when ingested – particularly if this combination is used on a regular, daily basis.
The one and only commercial colloidal silver and H202 product I ever used internally left my stomach feeling “burned” for hours afterwards. I must admit, that is the source of my skepticism for the use of this combination of substances together.
Pure Conjecture/Zero Evidence
Most of the internet web sites touting the use of this combination for internal, infection-fighting purposes, state that adding one part H202 (hydrogen peroxide) to one thousand parts colloidal silver “enhances the colloidal silver” and “increases bioavailability of the silver particles.”
In reality, there is ZERO evidence for either of these statements. I’ve never seen a study proving this contention. It is pure conjecture.
Any positive antibacterial results from using the combination of colloidal silver and hydrogen peroxide internally are most likely a result of the very well known fact that incredible amounts of oxygen is liberated when silver comes into contact with hydrogen peroxide – not from any theorized “enhancement” to the silver particles.
After all, certain classes of infectious microbes – known as anaerobic pathogens – do not fare well in the presence of increased oxygen. Higher oxygen levels literally wipe them out.
So I don’t question the increased bacterial “killing power” of the combination of colloidal silver and hydrogen peroxide. Theoretically, it should work. I know from personal experience that it does work topically.
I only question its safety inside the human body, and in regards specifically to its potentially harmful effects on the soft tissues surrounding the internal organs.
The Question Remains
So for me, the question remains, what happens in the human body when silver and peroxide are combined, resulting in a caustic release of millions of bursts of oxygen over, say, a period of 20 or 30 minutes after ingestion? Think about it as a potential internal “slow burn.”
Here are some questions I’d like to see answered:
Has the much-touted 1:1000 ratio of food-grade H202 to colloidal silver ever really been tested for safety in humans? How was this ratio arrived at? Or was it simply made up, based upon conjecture and extrapolation from the wastewater treatment plant experiments?
Again, my chief concern is this: What happens to the soft tissues surrounding the internal organs of the human body when this combination is ingested?
Experimentation
I have no problem with people experimenting with this combination, as long as they recognize they are EXPERIMENTING on themselves. It is perfectly fine with me.
However, I’ve read the web sites that tout the use of H202 and colloidal silver, and from what I’ve seen so far, it is all conjecture and faddish extrapolation – just like the “adding cayenne pepper to colloidal silver” fad was several years ago, and the “adding MSM to colloidal silver” fad (which led to argyria in several cases I know of) was in previous years.
I’d certainly like to hear from some other knowledgeable colloidal silver users on this fascinating subject, nevertheless.
My ONLY Hydrogen Peroxide and Colloidal Silver Protocol at Present: Eliminating Bleeding Gums and Plaque
While my position may change on this subject as more reliable and less speculative information comes to light, I currently do not recommend the internal use of hydrogen peroxide and colloidal silver in combination, at any ratio.
However, for external purposes I have used – and continue to use – a combination of very minuscule amounts of hydrogen peroxide and colloidal silver – specifically, for eliminating bleeding gums and plaque.
Here’s what I do:
I use a toothpaste product called Hydroxy Tooth Gel from Dr. Donsbach, which contains a very, very small amount of stabilized hydrogen peroxide.
Hydrogen peroxide by itself is highly antimicrobial. It kills the plaque bacteria that adhere to the teeth and cause plaque buildup and eventual decay.
But what I do is put the hydrogen peroxide tooth gel on my toothbrush and then spray it with a couple of sprays of 5 ppm colloidal silver from a pump spray bottle.
As I mentioned, hydrogen peroxide reacts very strongly to silver. That’s because silver acts as a catalyst when exposed to hydrogen peroxide. You would not want to use regular, full-strength hydrogen peroxide in your mouth, and you certainly would not want to use regular, full-strength hydrogen peroxide together with colloidal silver in your mouth, as the two products together can be very caustic, and possibly damage the soft tissue of the gums and lower palate over time.
However, the very small amount of hydrogen peroxide in Dr. Donsbach’s Hydroxy Tooth Gel mixes well with a few sprays of colloidal silver. It is not caustic at all – at least not in my personal experience. You can see it start to bubble just a tiny bit when you spray the colloidal silver directly onto the tooth gel on my toothbrush.
I then brush my teeth with this mixture.
The results?
My bleeding, sensitive gums have healed up completely. It took a few weeks, but there is no more bleeding at all, and I now have very little gum sensitivity or discomfort.
What’s more, I’ve had no more cavities in several years now.
If you have bleeding gums, it’s an idea you might want to try on an experimental basis to see how it works out for yourself – keeping in mind, of course, the fact that combining any amount of hydrogen peroxide with silver can be caustic and as a result may harm soft tissue wherever applied.
P.S. I’ve been an advocate for the safe, sane and common-sense usage of colloidal silver for over a decade and a half now. And I know my skeptical opinion on the use of hydrogen peroxide with colloidal silver is not going to sit well with the purveyors of this technique.
Some defenders of this technique will claim I’m over-dramatizing the situation in order to scare people away. I’m not. I’m just urging caution and common-sense.
I also realize there are colloidal silver users out there who believe everything they read on the internet (after all, “If it’s writ down, it must be true!” to quote late-night TV’s Craig Ferguson), and have already bought into this technique based upon what they’ve read on other web sites, and therefore will want to criticize me for my skeptical opinion.
I don’t care. I’m a big boy. I can handle the criticism, however misplaced.
But I must ask: If the internal use of hydrogen peroxide in colloidal silver was really safe, why are the web sites touting it so full of disclaimers and weasel words like “experimental combination” and “it is possible that…” or “it is likely that…”?
In my opinion, the reason for the use of so many weasel words is that the purveyors of this combination of hydrogen peroxide and colloidal silver have no proof of their claims, other than the two wastewater treatment plant studies that had nothing whatsoever to do with the use of hydrogen peroxide combined with colloidal silver in the human body.
Over time, more evidence will come in regarding this combination of substances. And I for one hope it is positive. But in the meantime, with only speculation and conjecture to go on, I must remain a skeptic.
One Final Thought…
Some people also claim if you wait several hours to drink your colloidal silver solution after mixing a bit of hydrogen peroxide into it, you can avoid any problems with the caustic nature of combining the two substances.
They say the heat and oxygen produced as the silver particles react to the hydrogen peroxide has by then left the solution and disappeared into the air.
Well, if true, that’s good, particularly in terms of avoiding the possibility of burning the soft inner lining of your stomach. However, it creates an additional problem:
What most people miss is the fact that one of the three main reasons colloidal silver is so effective in the body is that silver particles are very efficient carriers of nascent oxygen.
Silver carries concentrated nascent oxygen in tiny octahedral holes on its surface. In fact, researchers have found that silver and oxygen go together like peanut butter and jelly!
Once inside the body, the silver particles deliver the nascent oxygen to anaerobic bacteria. And because that type of pathogen can’t live in the presence of oxygen, it kills them.
I document that fact in my article Silver: Nature’s Efficient Carrier of Nascent Oxygen, as well as my article 3 Ways Colloidal Silver Stops Pathogens From Causing Infection.
But if you’ve added a bit of hydrogen peroxide into your colloidal silver solution, and then waited several hours to drink it, the nascent oxygen is “burnt off” the silver particles by the caustic reaction between the two substances.
The oxygen leaving the silver particles, being a gas, simply rises to the top of your colloidal silver solution and dissipates into the air.
This eliminates up to one-third of the effectiveness of your colloidal silver solution.
People overlook that simple fact of colloidal silver chemistry. You don’t want to burn off the oxygen from the silver by exposing it to hydrogen peroxide.
So you’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. If you drink the concoction immediately after mixing the hydrogen peroxide with the silver, you risk burning the soft inner lining in the stomach.
And if you wait several hours until the caustic reaction between the hydrogen peroxide and the silver is over, and then drink your colloidal silver, you’ve lost the infection-fighting power of the oxygen molecules that were released from the silver particles as they reacted with the hydrogen peroxide.
The bottom line is that I can’t see a single decent benefit to drinking colloidal silver that’s been mixed with hydrogen peroxide.
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