NanoSilver Fights Microbes
10 May 2008, 14:42
Categories: nanoparticles safety--security
Silver has long been known to be a good antimicrobial material, and nanoparticles consisting of this metal are no different. Silver nanoparticles—a small cluster of silver atoms less than 100 nanometers—destroy the cell walls of bacteria and other microbes. Numerous products include NanoSilver, and paints are now being embedded with silver nanoparticles in the hope that hospitals will coat their walls and countertops to fight infection (according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one million people a year contract bacterial infections in hospitals).
“Nanoparticles are very small and they are interacting with the bacteria and rupturing the cell wall,” says chemist George John of The City College of New York and lead author of a study, published recently in the journal Nature Materials. This rupture of the cell wall kills the bacteria, he explains.
Although there are currently no restrictions on using silver nanoparticles, some scientists are concerned that silver nanoparticles may not be as harmless as they appear. Little research has been done on their health and environmental effects, and silver kills good microorganisms along with the bad.
Read More
Read More
Read More
Read More
Read More
Posted by: The Editors
Permalink to this article
Previous: CNTs Remove Bacteria and Viruses from Water
Next: Three to Four Nanotech Products Released Weekly