What do you know about Agion Silver antimicrobial?

[ett]

So I was checking the new LE shoes I bought a while ago because I recall from their website that they mentioned antimicrobial. It's Agion and according to their website, it doesn't use unsafe chlorinated or synthetic chemicals and is suppose to be better for the environment. So anyone know anything about it? Is it really better than triclosan or are they just going to find out something bad about it in a couple of years?

http://www.agion-tech.com/

[brittone2]

I have a baby in my lap but if they are silver nanoparticles, I'm not a fan. FWIW, DH's PhD work for the last 5 years has been in nanoparticle research. I think they have great applications, but there are pretty gaps in what we understand and know about their safety.

I posted some links about silver nanoparticles in one of the tricolsan threads. They are popping up in socks, coatings, etc. as well which is why I mentioned it.

eta: still trying to figure out if their product is nano or microscale.

Here's a NYT story that mentions Agion
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/business/smallbusiness/06sbiz.html?pagewanted=all

lots of links here to reports on silver nanoparticles, products containing silver nano particles, etc.
http://blogs.edf.org/nanotechnology/2009/02/12/regulating-nano-silver-as-a-pesticide/

still not 100% sure about whether agion's product is nanoscale or not.

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/government/87/8748gov1.html

[ett]

Thanks for your response Beth. I think I may still end up keeping the LE shoes as they are not my everyday shoes. Of course, my everyday shoes are Merrells and who knows what's on them.

I can be a germaphobe at times, but I really don't need all my stuff coated with this stuff!

[smac]

Agion's silver is not nano. Its active ingredient is silver ions. These are larger particles that will not pass through the skin, and don't have many of the lingering questions that surround nano technologies. Their silver ion material is safe enough that it has Cradle to Cradle Gold Certification. Silver has been used for centuries; I don't think that you'll be hearing about it like you hear about triclosan and nano.