ABSTRACT
Silver salts have been in use for thousands of years in jewellery, cooking utensils, photography and medicine. Colloidal silver in particular is well known for its anti-microbial potential. In 1000 BC, the ancient Greeks used silver vessels for cooking and storage to prevent bacterial overgrowth. In the eighth century silver was introduced as a medicine for the treatment of blood-related disorders and heart palpitations. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries silver compounds were utilised in the treatment of ulcers (Klasen 2000). By the nineteenth century, the common anti-septics used in surgery were replaced with silver salts (Klasen 2000). However, this growing trend in the medicinal application of silver disappeared following World War II. In the decades that followed the clinical use of silver was limited to the application of silver sulphadiazine to burn infections (Klasen 2000).
