This book can save lives

Each pull-out page of the “Drinkable Book” contains nanoparticles of silver that can kill waterborne bacteria and purify up to 100 litres of water. In trials, the paper successfully removed more than 99% of bacteria. The research is being presented at this week’s American Chemical Society’s national meeting.

According to the World Health Organization, 3.4 million people die each year due to health issues stemming from unsanitary water.

The “Drinkable Book” is the brainchild of Theresa Dankovich, from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, who was researching a simple, inexpensive way to sanitize water.

She developed “pAge drinking paper,” which is a sturdy sheet of paper loaded with silver and copper nanoparticles that kill dangerous microbes living in dirty water.

Since 400 BC, silver has has been used as an antimicrobial. Herodotus accounts that no Persian king would drink water that was not transported in silver containers, which kept the water fresh for years.

Hippocrates used silver preparations for the treatment of ulcers and to promote the healing of wounds.