1. Introduction Available to Purchase
-
Published:2018
Download citation file:
Silver has attracted geniuses’ fascination for past thousands of years. Ancient civilizations found abundant deposits of silver on the earth’s surface. Silver has known to be a metal that came into use even before Neolithic revolution. Claims of medicinal properties have followed silver since the time of Hippocrates, the father of medicine. Silver has been used in treating wounds and burns, because of its broad-spectrum toxicity to bacteria, fungus and viruses, as well as its reputation of limited toxicity to humans. The first recorded medicinal use of silver was reported during 8th century. It has been well documented that silver was used in ancient Greece and Rome as a disinfectant, the Macedonians used it to encourage wound healing and more recently NASA selected a silver-based system to maintain water purity and bacteria free environment on the space shuttle.