Silver substances benefit downstream industries & the EU economy more generally.
Silver substances benefit downstream industries & the EU economy more generally. Silver substances create EU jobs, and foster EU innovation and growth, especially among SMEs which make up the membership of the European Silver Task Force.
Silver is a chemical element with symbol Ag (from the Latin argentum), and atomic number 47. Silver has long been valued as a precious metal. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. The metal is found in the Earth's crust in the pure, free elemental form ("native silver"), as an alloy with gold and other metals, and in minerals such as argentite. Poland is the largest silver producer in the EU and 7th globally, followed by Sweden which is 13th globally.
Case-study: Socio-economic valuation of silver substances coating on door handles in hospitals.“Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) require patients to receive additional medical treatment, lengthen hospital stays and can even lead to deaths. Microbes living on surfaces in hospitals and transferred by hand contact are one of the causes of infection. Applying an anti-microbial polysiloxane-nano silver surface coating can reduce the number of HAIs. The socio-economic valuation shows that, although there is an environmental impact and occupational health risks of coating door handles with a polysiloxane-nanosilver coating, the system has an expected net benefit for society due to the reduction of hospital infections. In fact, the external costs of the environmental impact and occupational health risks are negligible compared to the internal costs for material and personnel. In total the operating expenses for coating door handles in one average hospital every two years, are € 1,350 per year, including coating and application. The total preventable costs for infections are € 83,010 per year. This results in a net benefit of €81,660 per year. Even when assuming a limited infection reduction and high internal and external costs in the conservative scenario the net socio-economic result is positive (see Figure 7).” European Commission – CORDIS. Life cycle approach and human risk impact assessment, product stewardship and stakeholder risk/benefit communication of nanomaterials