Why incorporate silver into water filters?

Most water filters contain colloidal silver. It is a natural biocide which, depending on its concentration, either destroys bacteria and pathogens or acts as a bacteriostatic agent by stopping the proliferation of bacteria. These properties have been known since ancient times. There are records of silver being used in Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece and Ancient Rome. The Romans, for example, kept their water in silver jars for this reason. In the Middle Ages, a silver cup was given to newborns to strengthen their immunity. The expression ‘born with a silver spoon in your mouth’ refers to the knowledge that people had at the time about these properties.

Colloidal silver works by releasing silver ions into the water, which penetrate and destroy bacterial cells.

Use in medicine

Colloidal silver was widely used in medicine from the late 19th century until the 1940s, when antibiotics came along. Today, some silver-based creams are still used for their effectiveness on certain skin conditions like psoriasis and warts.

Shunned in Europe because the food safety authority refused to comment due to insufficient data on its usefulness, colloidal silver is popular in Anglo-Saxon countries.

What do health organisations and the scientific community say?

The WHO recommends a maximum concentration of silver ions in water of 0.1 mg/L. Europe, which is more cautious, has set a maximum concentration of 0.08 mg/L.

To date, no scientific studies have demonstrated any harmful effects on human health at these concentrations.

Silver and human health

Silver, like all heavy metals, is dangerous to health in high doses. This is also the case for tobacco, alcohol, fat, sugar, etc. However, at the recommended doses, there is no danger to human health. For reasons that are still poorly understood, humans can tolerate fairly high doses of silver, whose absorption into the bloodstream does not appear to have any direct effect below a certain threshold.

The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) wrote in 2009: ‘... a consumer who drinks 2 litres of water treated with a maximum silver concentration of 0.08 mg/l every day for 70 years will have no health concerns.’

The cities of Atlanta, Denver and New York in the United States have a natural silver content of 200 to 300 µg/l (0.2 to 0.3 mg/L), which is two to three times higher than the recommended concentrations, without any negative effects on the health of the population having been recorded.

What about our Ultimate Star Filter® filters?

Our filters are composed of a mixture of two activated carbons, a compound that improves the treatment of heavy metals and a nanofiltration membrane. All three compounds are NSF® certified.

Both the activated carbon and the membrane are loaded with colloidal silver for bacteriostatic purposes, to prevent the development of pathogens and to guarantee safe use for 3,000 litres per filter.

Because we are completely transparent in everything we do and say, we have carried out analyses to verify that there is no health risk due to the presence of silver. This is of course the case.

At 30 litres, i.e. approximately after the first three filtrations have been discarded, as recommended in our operating instructions, the silver content in the water is already well below the WHO recommendations, at 0.00922 mg/L, and decreases significantly as the filter is used.

• After 100 litres, the concentration is 0.00711 mg/L
• After 200 litres, the concentration is 0.01014 mg/L
• After 300 litres, the concentration is 0.00588 mg/L

You can find the analyses carried out by the SGS laboratory at this link.

At no time does the silver ion concentration approach or exceed regulatory limits. There is therefore no danger in using our Ultimate Star Filter® filters. In addition, our filter has successfully passed REACH analyses, meaning it complies with European regulations and does not contain any hazardous substances.