Is it then difficult to induce silver resistance in a bacterium? No, in a laboratory it can be accomplished relatively fast (Warriner 2005, Melhus, manuscript) and at the same time it is noticeable how the susceptibility to antibiotics is affected. Silver resistance is most easily developed in bacteria with already documented resistance mechanisms to antibiotics, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin- resistant enterococci (VRE), enterobacteria with production of extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL), multiresistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, i.e. bacteria which we are constantly fighting in Health care (Melhus, manuscript). At present it is uncertain how quickly or often this occurs to bacteria outside the laboratory, but most likely the silver exposure in nature, in our homes and in Health care is already sufficient to induce silver resistance (Silver 2003, 2006, Johnson 2005).

Silver resistance associated with antibiotic resistance has been observed in isolated bacteria from birds (Johnson 2005) and in salmonella spp. (Gupta 1999). (Salmonella is a bacterium which is mainly found in animals but it may also infect humans via food and cause diarrhoea and vomiting). There are silver resistant bacteria in our mouths (Davis 2005), which may possibly be related to the silver contents in amalgam fillings. Silver resistant bacteria have also been found in nature, in food, in intestinal bacteria from different geographic locations and in our hospitals (Grewal 1999, Hendry 1979).

Silver is no solution to a problem. It is a part of the problem. With the introduction of digital cameras, the consumption of silver was dramatically reduced which made a general decrease in silver exposure for individuals as well as bacteria and the environment possible. With all that in mind Samsung suddenly allows environmental bacteria, intestinal bacteria, skin bacteria, including our most common wound bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, to become permanently exposed to silver through silver washing of clothes and textiles. If bacteria are silver resistant, how can silver kill those bacteria that are the cause of bad odours and stains on the clothes?