Nanosilver - Why it is still so hot?

The safety of nanosilver (AgNP) is a potential "Nano-Titanic" preventing a sustainable nanosilver industry. Nanosilver effectively kills bacteria and is therefore biocidal, but many scientists are still uncertain of its safety to humans. Thus, safety has become a very sensitive and potentially critical issue for companies that make products containing nanosilver. On one hand, Senjen et al. [1] of Friends of the Earth claim that nanosilver is an extreme germ killer which presents a growing threat to public health. On the other hand, Volpe [2] and Height [3] of Silver Nanotechnology Working Group (SNWG) argued that AgNP used in antimicrobial applications is identical to all EPA-registered silver products for decades. Very recently, Nowack et al. [4] urged the policy regulators not to hastingly to declare nanosilver materials as new chemicals in their study on 120 years of nanosilver history. Nevertheless, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) recently conducted the Delphi study regarding nanoscale silver compounds in food products, cosmetics and every day products. To ensure that products are safe for consumer health, BfR recently recommended that German manufacturers not use nanoscale silver or nanoscale silver compounds in foods and everyday products until the data are available and comprehensive enough to allow a conclusive risk assessment [5]. Today, about 320 tons/year of AgNP have been produced and used worldwide [4]. Therefore, whether it is an old or new problem, we must deal with it seriously.