Leino Veera, Airaksinen Riikka, Viluksela Matti, Vähäkangas Kirsi
School of Pharmacy/Toxicology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland.
Toxicol Rep. 2020 Dec 26;8:106-113. doi: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2020.12.021. eCollection 2021.
The aim was to investigate the marketing practices, beliefs and health claims regarding the use of colloidal silver in Finland. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are potentially toxic due to their small size and Ag-release capabilities, and the use of colloidal silver products containing AgNPs can cause a wide variety of adverse effects such as argyria.
Contents of three company websites selling colloidal silver were reviewed, and the claims used in the marketing of colloidal silver were compared to the scientific information about silver. In Facebook posts and discussion about colloidal silver were analyzed.
In Finland, the marketing of colloidal silver products on websites selling the products did not follow the regulations of authorities; several scientifically unfounded claims about the efficacy and medical use of colloidal silver were found. After the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle) documentary and an intervention by authorities, contents of the websites were changed, but still questionable information and misleading claims could be found. In the analyzed Facebook groups attitudes towards medical use of colloidal silver were uncritically positive, internal use was highly promoted and the restrictions of use were considered unjustified.
The use of quackery products such as colloidal silver can be dangerous, and their use and marketing should be controlled and restricted.
旨在调查芬兰关于使用胶体银的营销行为、观念及健康宣称。银纳米颗粒（AgNPs）因其尺寸小和银释放能力而具有潜在毒性，含有AgNPs的胶体银产品的使用会导致多种不良反应，如银质沉着症。
审查了三家销售胶体银的公司网站内容，并将胶体银营销中使用的宣称与关于银的科学信息进行比较。分析了脸书上关于胶体银的帖子和讨论。
在芬兰，销售胶体银产品的网站上的营销行为未遵循当局规定；发现了一些关于胶体银功效和医学用途的毫无科学依据的宣称。在芬兰广播公司（YLE）的纪录片播出及当局干预后，网站内容有所改变，但仍能找到有问题的信息和误导性宣称。在所分析的脸书群组中，对胶体银医学用途的态度盲目积极，大力推广内服，且认为使用限制不合理。
使用胶体银这类庸医产品可能很危险，其使用和营销应受到管控和限制。
