Water-soluble polyelectrolytes containing ammonium and sulfonic groups, their polymer-Ag(I) complexes, and silver nitrate were investigated as bactericidal compounds for Staphylococcus aureus (Collection No. ATCC 28922) and Escherichia coli (Collection No. 6538P) according to the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCL) method. All the compounds, except Ag(I), showed bactericidal activity only for S. aureus. Ag(I) showed high bactericidal activity for both bacteria. No important effect of the molecular weight or macromolecular size on the maximum bactericidal concentration value was observed. The genotoxicity was studied using the rec assay. None of the macromolecular compounds showed genotoxicity, except silver ions, whose value was borderline.