Silver is a white-grey colored precious metal which finds use in a number of industrial processes. It is found in the elemental form or as compounds of halides, sulphides and oxides. It is also used to make jewelry as it is a soft metal on which intricate carvings can be easily done.

Silver is not a metal that was discovered recently. It has been seen from slag dumps in the Aegean Sea and Asia Minor that the metal has been in use for the past 5000 years almost. Here are some must know facts about silver.

• Silver is stable when exposed to air. However, it reacts with ozone and sulfides to form various kinds of compounds. The formation of these compounds leaves a black coating on the surface. These compounds can be easily removed, and they do not tarnish the underlying silver.

• Silver blackens faster when exposed to air nowadays than what it used to in the Pre-Industrial Revolution era. This is mainly because the content of sulphur in the atmosphere has gone up in the past 200 years.

• Almost 4% of the silver released through industrial processes enters the atmosphere, 28% enters aquatic bodies and 68% enter terrestrial ecosystems. Close to 41 percent of the silver is released from human activities comes from the photographic industries.

• Theories suggest that seeding clouds with silver could increase or decrease rainfall. Studies are being conducted in desert areas of the United States and Mexico to check these claims.

• Being harder than gold, ductile, malleable and very good conductor of electricity, silver finds extensive use in the making of printed circuit board contacts, soldering alloys, high capacity batteries etc.

• A compound, silver nitrate is used in the processing of photographs at the time of printing.

• Health experts are thinking about using silver in cleaning water used in swimming pools instead of chlorine because the latter combines with other elements to form harmful by-products which are carcinogenic in nature.

• In olden days, silver drops were added to a newborn baby’s eyes to prevent blindness due to maternal gonorrhoea. Nowadays, erythromycin is used in place of silver for the same purpose.

• Coming in contact with silver is not harmful for the human body. Even if silver is ingested, it will simply pass out through faeces without affecting the body. However, if one inhales large quantities of silver fumes or fumes of silver compounds, then the mucous membrane and respiratory tract may be irritated.

• Aquatic animals are much affected by silver. The free ions of the silver react with biological molecules present in their bodies to hamper body processes. Fishes and zooplanktons that ingest silver ions lose ions from their body and water seeps into their skin. They can die because of a collapse in the cardiovascular system of the body.

• The Environmental Protection Agency or EPA has regulated that a litre of drinking water should not have more than 1 milligram of silver as it can lead to skin discoloration in individuals who are allergic or sensitive to silver.

Silver is one of the most versatile metals, which is why it is used in various industrial activities. Other uses of the element are also being investigated to diversify its uses.