. As in the case of chitosan,
the antibacterial activity of silver strongly depends on
the cell–membrane interaction. Due to their small sizes,
silver nanoparticles are found to be potentially hazardous
to the environment, but many studies suggest them to
be non-toxic [18]. It is also known that the cytotoxicity
toward mammalian cells increases with the silver nanoparticle
concentration, therefore materials containing nanoparticulate
silver should not release it to the surroundings.