Silver Nitrate: Uses, Hazards and Safety Data Sheet Guide

Silver nitrate (AgNO3, CAS 7761-88-8) is a colourless crystalline solid that dissolves very well in water. It is the main starting point for most other silver compounds, and it is valued because it is a soluble silver salt, which most silver compounds are not. It darkens on exposure to light and organic matter, which is why it is stored in opaque containers.

What silver nitrate is used for

• Chemical analysis: titrations to determine chloride (argentometry) and as a reagent in qualitative tests.
• Manufacture of other silver compounds, such as silver halides, silver oxide and silver catalysts.
• Electronics and electroplating: conductive inks, silver plating solutions and mirror manufacture (silvering).
• Medical and veterinary products, such as cauterising sticks for wounds and warts, regulated as medicines in most countries.
• Photography, historically, where silver halides form the light-sensitive layer.
• Staining in biology, including silver staining of proteins on gels and nerve tissue.
• Antimicrobial formulations and water-treatment research.

Hazard classification

Silver nitrate is commonly classified as an oxidising solid (category 2 or 3, H272), as causing severe skin burns and eye damage (category 1B, H314), and as very toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects (H400 and H410). The signal word is Danger and the pictograms are flame over circle (GHS03), corrosion (GHS05) and environment (GHS09). Check the harmonised entry for the current category, as some sources differ on the oxidiser category.

Silver ions are strongly toxic to aquatic organisms at very low concentrations, which is why the environmental statements carry such weight. Silver nitrate waste must never go down a drain, and Section 13 should direct users to collect silver-bearing waste for recovery or authorised disposal. Silver also has recovery value, so waste is often worth collecting for that reason alone.

Health effects and staining

Contact with skin or mucous membranes causes burns and a characteristic grey-black stain when silver is reduced in the tissue. The stain is cosmetic but takes weeks to fade, and it is a good reason to insist on gloves, goggles and lab coats. Swallowing can cause severe corrosive injury. Repeated or prolonged exposure to silver compounds can cause argyria, a permanent blue-grey discolouration of skin and eyes, and exposure limits for silver are set in many countries. Include these in Section 11.

Handling and storage

Store in tightly closed amber glass or opaque containers, away from light, heat, combustible materials and organic matter. Keep it separated from reducing agents, ammonia (silver nitrate and ammonia can form shock-sensitive fulminating silver compounds), acetylene, alcohols and strong acids. Never mix ammoniacal silver solutions and leave them standing. This reactive hazard belongs in Section 10 of the SDS. See our storage compatibility guide for how to place oxidisers in a warehouse.

Transport and documentation

Silver nitrate is a Class 5.1 oxidiser for transport and is also environmentally hazardous. Check the current UN number and packing group. For small laboratory quantities, limited-quantity provisions may apply but only if the conditions are strictly met. On the label, include all three pictograms, the signal word, hazard and precautionary statements, and supplier details. Specify purity on your specification: laboratory reagent grades commonly state 99.8 percent or more, while technical grades are lower.

You can view the harmonised data we hold on the silver nitrate page, and our guide to writing a safety data sheet walks through the complete process.