Are silver dragees killing us all? (REPOST)

For years, my husband has refused to decorate cookies with silver dragees (those little silver BBs). He always points to the label, which says "for decoration only."

Now I hear that California stores can't sell them.
See http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi...

Are silver dragees safe to eat in small amounts? If not, what about that edible silver leaf on Indian desserts? And what about gold leaf and gold powder?

Thanks,
Anne