Silver poisons?

Question

What would be a plausible, pseudo-scientific explaination for why werewolves are poisoned by silver?

Answer 1

Silver and wolfsbane are the two known substances that werewolves are allergic to. It has long been believed that a silver bullet is the only device that will kill a werewolf. In reality, you would have to use a dozen or so silver bullets for it to be of a great effect. Silver does make the werewolf ill and will leave a mark on the skin, but it will only kill them if applied in great doses.

Answer 2

pure silver is non toxic to humans even in large quantities, although it is an antimicrobial...maybe werewolves depend on a certain bacteria in the blood? or maybe silver is highly reactive with an element or molecule in their blood? funny question.

Answer 3

the chemistry in their blood reacts violently to the metal.

Answer 4

Well, since werewolves are fictional creatures, their body chemistry can be anything you want it to be, and really it is up to your imagination how it might react with silver.

Regarding what we know scientifically of actual animals and human beings, a bullet certainly can be lethal but the type of metal it is made from would not have any immediate impact on the health of the animal or person. Long term, it is conceivable that there could be some effect if enough metal ions dissolve into the bloodstream.

Regarding silver in specific, there is a very real and bizarre effect that silver poisoning can have on a person. It can turn the skin gray to blue and it is not reversible. This coloring can result from the ingestion of elemental silver or the embedding of small silver particles in the skin, e.g., from working in a silver mine. Some people are more susceptible to it than others. It is not deadly, but would probably make it hard to find a date unless you're into Smurfs or the Blue Man Group. :)  See the link below.

Answer 5

Many things can be poisoned by silver, but the werewolf is only vulnerable to silver.  You can pierce a werewolf with a non-silver blade, and it will not die.  Why is silver needed?

The energy that causes a person to become a werewolf - that gives the werewolf life-energy - is derived from the full moon.  In astrological alchemy, the basic element of the moon is silver, so, only a silver bullet or a silver blade can damage that silvery energy -- the life giving energy of the moon.

Let's take this a step further.   When a person is bitten by a werewolf, but does not die, a pathogen is transfered to the person via the saliva.  The pathogen infects the new host and permeates his system.  This pathogen is light sensitive and activated by the silvery light of the moon (via some ancient formula described in alchemy).  When a full moon occurs, it enhances the "silvery life-giving energy" of the moon, and it becomes the dominant life force in the being.  

The pathogen enables the infected individual to have enhanced vision and sensitivity to different wavelengths of light.  Hence, the infected person can see the mark of the pentagram where others cannot.

The pathogen is so strong a life giving force that it overrides the normal life force, and only by breaking the energy patterns created by this pathogen can a werewolf be killed.  That pattern, derived from alchemy and the basic element of the moon (silver), can only be broken by an instrument made of the same material from which it is derived - silver.