As you probably know, the FDA places many restrictions on what can and cannot be said about this subject. Therefore, we will simply quote from the work performed and published by others and The Silver Institute, which is a nonprofit international association that draws its membership from across the breadth of the silver industry. Established in 1971, the Institute serves as the industry’s voice in increasing public understanding of the many uses and values of silver.

Colloidal silver works as a catalyst. A catalyst is best described as a substance that brings about (causes) a reaction or occurrence, without itself participating or being consumed.

Richard Davies and Samuel Etris of The Silver Institute, in a 1996 monograph entitled "The Development and Functions of Silver in Water Purification and Disease Control", discussed three mechanisms of deactivation that silver utilizes to incapacitate disease causing organisms. They are:

1) Catalytic Oxidation

Silver, in its atomic state, has the capacity to absorb oxygen and act as a catalyst to bring about oxidation. Atomic (nascent) oxygen absorbed onto the surface of silver ions in solution will readily react with the sulfhydryl (-S-H) groups surrounding the surface of bacteria or viruses to remove the hydrogen atoms (as water), causing the sulfur atoms to form an R-S-S-R bond; blocking respiration and causing the bacteria to expire. Employing a simple catalytic reduction/oxidation reaction, colloidal silver will react with any negative charge presented by the organism's transport or membrane proteins and deactivate them.

2) Reaction with Bacterial Cell Membranes

There is evidence that silver ions attach to membrane surface radicals of bacteria, impairing cell respiration and blocking its energy transfer system. One explanation is based on the nature of enzyme construction: Specific enzymes are required for a given biochemical activity to take place. Enzyme molecules usually require a specific metallic atom as part of the molecular matrix in order to function. A metal of higher valance can replace a metal of lower valance in the enzyme complex, preventing the enzyme from functioning normally. Silver, with a valance of plus 2, can replace many metals with a lower, or equal valance that exhibit weaker atomic bonding properties.

3) Binding with DNA

Studies by C.L. Fox and S.M. Modak with pseudomonas aeruginosa, a tenacious bacteria that is difficult to treat, demonstrated that as much as 12% of silver is taken up by the organism's DNA. While it remains unclear exactly how the silver binds to the DNA without destroying the hydrogen bonds holding the lattice together, it nevertheless prevents the DNA from unwinding, an essential step for cellular replication to occur.

Since silver kills only bacteria that is anaerobic or nitrogen breathing, the friendly bacteria in the digestive tract are immune to it due to the fact that they are oxygen breathing, (aerobic).