Fact-check: Did doctors in the U.S. find new cancer in human beings caused by silver nitro oxide?

The compound silver nitro oxide does not exist, and there is no proven evidence to show that the silver coating on recharge cards causes skin cancer.

Writer: Ochaya Jackson

A WhatsApp message being forwarded to groups claiming that doctors in the United States had found new cancer in human beings caused by silver nitro oxide is false. 

The claim, which emphasises that people forward the message widely, also claims that recharge cards contain a silver nitro oxide coating, which can cause skin cancer. 

“WhatsApp is free, so share it, please. Please read and forward this. 

Doctors in the United States have found new cancer in human beings, caused by Silver Nitro Oxide.  Whenever you buy recharge cards, don’t scratch your nails, as they contain Silver Nitro Oxide coating and can cause skin cancer. Share this message with your loved ones,” reads the WhatsApp message.

The screenshot of the WhatsApp claim

The same claim was also posted here (archived here) on October 3rd, 2023, and here (archived here) in 2021.

Further queries on Facebook about “Silver Nitro Oxide” returned that the claim was shared here and here years ago.

Claim Verification:

A keyword search on Google using “Doctors in the United States have found new cancer in human beings” returned that the same claim was fact-checked by the AFP in 2020 and found to be false. 

From the results, any information about discoveries does not mention any cancer caused by silver nitro oxide.

211 Check also found a report by The New Indian Express that debunked the same claim in 2016.

Again, a keyword search on Google for “Silver Nitro Oxide” returned another fact-check report that debunked the claim as a hoax.

Further, there is no chemical substance called “Silver Nitro Oxide,” according to PubChem and ChemSpider, which are databases for chemical information. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), skin cancer is caused by overexposure to ultraviolet light (radiation) from the sun or artificial sources like devices (tanning beds) that emit ultraviolet radiation.

A study published in the National Library of Medicine in 2014 on recharge card coatings in Nigeria showed that silver coatings of major recharge cards contained high levels of heavy metals such as iron, zinc, copper, nickel cadmium, lead, silver, chromium, manganese.

However, the study noted that ‘despite the high concentration of the metals in the coating, the health risk index (HRI) indicated that the users of mobile phones recharge cards could only experience low health risk associated with these metals. 

The study also noted that long-term exposure could be a source of worry. It recommended that regular washing of hands after scratching off coatings on the recharge cards should be practised to avoid food contamination.

Additionally, a 2018 study by the Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological, and Chemical Sciences (RJPBCS) on heavy metals concentrations in mobile phone recharge cards in Iraq indicated high levels of heavy metals in recharge cards. The study recommended that blunt razor blades or any special scraper should be used instead of fingernails so as not to contaminate foods and drinks and avoid ingestion. 

However, both studies did not link the compound used on scratch cards to skin cancer. 

211 Check also contacted a Juba-based Medical Officer, Case Thomas Nicholas, who works with the German Leprosy Association, for comment. According to Nicholas, the claim is unfounded, and silver nitrooxide does not exist among carcinogenic substances.

“The claims about silver nitro oxide are wide off the mark. Such claims are unfounded and must be disregarded. The silver nitro oxide doesn’t exist as people say and it’s not related to any cancer cause. People talked of nitrous oxide and nitric oxide but none are found to cause any form of cancer. Just know that the list of carcinogenic substances doesn’t include silver nitro oxide because it [silver nitro oxide] doesn’t exist,” wrote Nicholas in response to the query.

Conclusion:

211 Check finds the claim that doctors in the United States found new cancer in human beings caused by silver nitro oxide is false. The compound silver nitro oxide does not exist, and there is no proven evidence to show that the silver coating on recharge cards causes skin cancer. 

This fact check was published by 211 Check with technical support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck newsdesk through the African Fact-Checking Alliance (AFCA).

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