Antimicrobial additives – good or bad?

Jonathan Waggott, of consultancy Jonathan Waggott & Associates, who claims to be one of the world’s leading experts in sanitary infection control issues, asks whether, with evidence that hand hygiene and cleaning with disinfectants in healthcare facilities can no longer be entirely relied upon to safeguard patients against harmful bacteria, it is time to look a new approaches – such as greater application of antimicrobial paints, coatings, or varnishes onto frequently touched surfaces. 

It has long been known that silver has some very special natural properties when it comes to fighting infections. If you go back in the history books, as far as 3,000 years ago silver jugs were used for storing liquids such as water and wine. The ancient Greeks and Romans knew that wine, water, and oil, would last longer if placed into vessels made from silver. 

Early settlers of North America dropped copper coins into transport containers to preserve water, wine, milk, and vinegar, and a similar strategy was used by Japanese soldiers during the Second World War to prevent the spread of dysentery. In addition, silver in the form of colloidal silver, a clear or yellowish liquid with microscopic silver ions, was used by the Egyptians. They used it to treat a number of ailments of their times. The Romans and Greeks also used this liquid to prevent infections, and in 400 B.C. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, prescribed colloidal silver to treat skin diseases and gastrointestinal upset