Development and application of methods for the determination of silver in polymeric dressings used for the care of burns

Open vessel and microwave digestion methods have been developed for the determination of total silver in six commercial dressing used for the treatment of skin burns. An extraction method using TMAH has also been developed to determine the amount of silver present in the exudates found on the surface after dressing removal so an estimation of the patient dose can be made. All microwave methods had a quantitative recovery, whereas the open vessel had recoveries that ranged from 80 to 100%. The silver concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry using an external calibration. In the absence of suitable reference materials, isotope dilution analysis was applied to validate the accuracy of results obtained by external calibration. All the products had a total Ag content that agreed with the values declared by the producer, which ranged from 10 to 0.2% Ag by weight. One of the methods was applied to the indirect determination of Ag released in vivo by Acticoat(TM) Flex 3, a dressing composed of silver nanoparticles on a polymer net. Silver levels were determined in used dressings after application to patients with partial thickness skin burns. A maximum of 62% of the silver was found to have been released onto the patient where hemopurulent exudate occured, indicating that the dressing was virtually exhausted after 3 days of use. We conclude that the Ag released into the patient's tissues is closely correlated with the local severity of the wound.