The impact of anti-odor clothing on the environment

A problem is that even if even if silver nanoparticles are at a low level for any one garment, with many people buying them, it could build up to have a significant effect on the environment. There are already more than 7 billion (7,000,000,000) people on the planet. Endangering the environment we are part of and depend on for the sake of odor control of athletic clothing is crazy.

Reading the article, I remembered an intestinal problem I developed when using a water filter that used silver as a disinfectant, which I wondered at the time might be due to effects of silver on my digestive system. Reading this article, it occurred to me that if the problem was due to the silver, it might have have been due to effects on the bacteria. I have not seen it described, but I have learned that if something like this happens to me, it has happened to others. The problem was that when I bent over then straightened back up, I had the sensation that the lining of my digestive tract, don't know if it was my stomach or intestines, had stuck together like with a tacky glue and was being pulled apart. It was not painful, but disconcerting. After I stopped using this water filter, the problem eventually went away, after some months. I have not had this problem using water that I buy from water purifying machines at the grocery store.

Aside from my own experience, I think it is important to study the effect of this silver on helpful bacteria. Eg., in the digestive tracts of humans & other animals, the decay of organic matter, the making of fermented foods, etc.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-03/acs-tio033016.php

Public Release: 30-Mar-2016
The impact of anti-odor clothing on the environment
American Chemical Society

Anti-odor athletic clothes containing silver nanoparticles have gained a foothold among exercise buffs, but questions have arisen over how safe and effective they are. Now scientists report in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology that silver nanoparticles and coatings do wash off of commercially available garments in the laundry but at negligible levels. They also found that even low concentrations of silver on clothing kept microbes at bay.

Thanks to their antimicrobial properties, silver nanoparticles are found in an increasing array of products such as food packaging, bandages and textiles. At the same time, scientists have been studying the possible effects silver nanoparticles might have on the environment and human health. Studies have shown that the particles can be toxic, but their safety is dependent on a number of factors such as size and dose. Few studies, however, have examined both their effectiveness in products and their potential for harm. Paul K. Westerhoff and colleagues wanted to see how the design of antimicrobial clothes affects how well they stand up to washing and their potential to leach silver into the environment.

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And after washing, the shirts still retained their antimicrobial effect even if their remaining metal concentration was low. The researchers also say, however, that the remaining silver will leach out over time when the clothes are discarded in landfills. They recommend keeping the initial metal concentration in these products low to help reduce their environmental impact while still maintaining their ability to fight off microbes.