A Silver Coating in the Fight Against Microbes
May 5, 2008 | Source: Scientific American
City College of New York researchers have developed paint containing silver nanoparticles, which can kill bacteria and other microbes, and are recommending that hospitals paint their walls and countertops to fight infection.
Bacteria cannot build up resistance to silver nanoparticles as they can to antibiotics, because the nanoparticles destroy the physical structure of cells.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one million people a year contract bacterial infections in hospitals.