Copper Destroys Viruses and Bacteria. Why Isn’t It Everywhere?

GetAClue · #1 (**permalink**) 03-20-2020, 12:21 PM

I came across this article earlier today. It is pretty interesting and kind of makes me want to outfit my home with copper fixtures.

Quote:

Copper Destroys Viruses and Bacteria. Why Isn’t It Everywhere?
It could destroy norovirus, MRSA, virulent strains of E. coli, and coronaviruses—including the novel strain currently causing the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 1852, physician Victor Burq visited a copper smelter in Paris's 3rd arrondissement, where they used heat and chemicals to extract the reddish-brown metal. It was a dirty and dangerous job. Burq found the facility to be "in poor condition," along with the housing and the hygiene of the smelters. Normally, their mortality rates were "pitiful," he observed.

Yet, the 200 employees who worked there had all been spared from cholera outbreaks that hit the city in 1832, 1849, and 1852. When Burq learned that 400 to 500 copper workers on the same street had also mysteriously dodged cholera, he concluded that something about their professions—and copper—had made them immune to the highly infectious disease. He launched a detailed investigation into other people who worked with copper, in Paris and cities around the world.

In the 1854 to 1855 cholera epidemic, Burq could not find any deaths of jewellers, goldsmiths, or boilermakers—all those who worked with copper. In people in the army, he found that musicians who played brass instruments (brass is partly copper) were also protected.

In the 1865 Paris epidemic, 6,176 people died of cholera, out of a population of 1,677,000 people—that’s 3.7 people out of every 1,000. But of the 30,000 who worked in different copper industries, only 45 died—an average of around 0.5 per 1,000.

After visiting 400 different businesses and factories in Paris, all of which used copper, and collecting reports from England, Sweden, and Russia on more than 200,000 people, he concluded to the French Academies of Science and Medicine in 1867 that “copper or its alloys, brass and bronze, applied literally and pregnantly to the skin in the cholera epidemic are effective means of prevention which should not be neglected.”

Today, we have insight into why a person handling copper day in and day out would have protection from a bacterial threat: Copper is antimicrobial. It kills bacteria and viruses, sometimes within minutes. In the 19th century, exposure to copper would have been an early version of constantly sanitizing one's hands.

Since then, studies have shown that copper is able to destroy the microbes that most threaten our lives. It has been shown to kill a long list of microbes, including norovirus, MRSA, a staph bacteria that has become resistant to antibiotics, virulent strains of E. coli that cause food-borne illness, and coronaviruses—possibly including the novel strain currently causing the COVID-19 pandemic.

If copper were more frequently used in hospitals, where 1 in 31 people get healthcare-acquired infections (HAI), or in high-traffic areas, where many people touch surfaces teeming with microbial life—it could play an invaluable role in public health, said Michael Schmidt, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the Medical University of South Carolina, who studies copper. And yet, it is woefully absent from our public spaces, healthcare settings, and homes.

“What happened is our own arrogance and our love of plastic and other materials took over,” Schmidt said of the cheaper products more frequently used. “We moved away from copper beds, copper railings, and copper door knobs to stainless steel, plastic, and aluminum.”

Many of the microbes that make us sick can live on hard surfaces for up to four or five days. When we touch those surfaces, the microbes can make it into our bodies through our nose, mouth, or eyes, and infect us.

On copper surfaces, bacteria and viruses die. When a microbe lands on a copper surface, the copper releases ions, which are electrically charged particles. Those copper ions blast through the outer membranes and destroy the whole cell, including the DNA or RNA inside. Because their DNA and RNA are destroyed, it also means a bacteria or virus can’t mutate and become resistant to the copper, or pass on genes (like for antibiotic resistance) to other microbes.

Before people even knew what bacteria and viruses were, they knew that copper could—somehow—ward off infection. The first recorded medical use of copper is from one of the oldest-known books, the Smith Papyrus, written between 2600 and 2200 B.C. It said that copper was used to sterilize chest wounds and drinking water. Egyptian and Babylonian soldiers would similarly put the shavings from their bronze swords (made from copper and tin) into their open wounds to reduce infections. A more contemporary use of copper: In New York City’s Grand Central Station, the grand staircase is flanked by copper handrails. “Those are actually anti-microbial,” Schmidt said.

The copper smelters were, ostensibly, exposed to less of the cholera bacterium because their surroundings included a lot of copper that bacteria couldn't live on. That and they potentially were covered in copper particles. If metallurgy doesn't call to you, there are now some products that are advertised as "copper hand sanitizers," but they work only if you can expose every surface of your hands to the copper for at least a full minute—essentially transferring any microbes to the copper surface to be killed. It could be difficult to get to every part of your skin's surface, so having copper surfaces in your environment paired with handwashing would be the ideal combination.

Schmidt said that using copper along with standard hygiene protocols has been shown to reduce bacteria in health care settings by 90 percent. A study from 1983 found that hospital door knobs made of brass, which is part copper, barely had any E. coli growth on them, compared to stainless steel knobs which were “heavily colonized.” This is significant because of how rampant healthcare-acquired infections are: In the U.S. alone, there are about 1.7 million infections and 99,000 deaths linked to HAIs per year, which cost between $35.7 and $45 billion annually, from the extra treatments people need when they get infected.

Microbes that live on surfaces in patient rooms and common spaces in hospitals play a role in getting a HAI—and this is where copper could help. And during this pandemic, when there is serious concern about the spread of the novel coronavirus via contaminated surfaces, a virus-killing substance seems worthwhile indeed.

A study from 2015 found that a different coronavirus, human coronavirus 229E, which causes respiratory tract infections, could still infect a human lung cell after five days of being on materials like teflon, ceramic, glass, silicone rubber, and stainless steel. But on copper alloys, the coronavirus was “rapidly inactivated.”

In a new preprint on SARS-CoV2, the strain that causes COVID-19, researchers at the National Institutes of Health virology laboratory in Montana sprayed the virus onto seven different common materials, reported MIT Technology Review. They found that it survived the longest—up to three days—on plastic and stainless steel, suggesting that surfaces in hospitals or steel poles on public transit could be places where people pick up the illness. Just a single droplet from a cough or sneeze can carry an infectious dose of a virus.

Bill Keevil, a professor of environmental healthcare at the University of Southampton in England who has previously received funding from the Copper Development Association, said that if copper surfaces were put in communal areas where many people gather, it could help reduce the transmission of respiratory viruses, like coronavirus 229E and also SARS-CoV2. Other than hospitals, he thinks the ideal locations for copper are public transportation systems, like buses, airports, subways. But he doesn't stop there: He would also like to see copper used in sports equipment in gyms, like weights, along with other everyday objects, including shared office supplies, like pens.

... (read more at the link provided)

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/x...tm_source=digg

jimbo · #2 (**permalink**) 03-20-2020, 12:41 PM

There may be something to this. For 25 years I've cooked in nothing but copper, and I've about 200 pounds of copper cookware hanging from my kitchen ceiling. I've also spent a total of one overnight in a hospital (due to a bicycle accident) and at 82 YO take no medicine ever.

I'll stick with the plan.

Manitou · #3 (**permalink**) 03-20-2020, 01:23 PM

I read that the ancient Romans would drop a silver coin into their water supply to keep the water clean. Copper and silver and gold oxidize and release bacteria and virus killing atoms. Maybe gold not as much, since it has a very slow oxidation rate. I'm no chemist, though.

FrancSevin · #4 (**permalink**) 03-20-2020, 04:55 PM

Ancient Egypt was from the copper age and used the metal for everything from cutlery to water pipes. It made their water more pure.

They thrived.

But copper is expensive and getting rare. Plastics are cheaper and easier to shape and manufacture.

Still, I insist on copper pipes in my plumbing system. For that very reason.

saltwn · #5 (**permalink**) 03-20-2020, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GetAClue

I came across this article earlier today. It is pretty interesting and kind of makes me want to outfit my home with copper fixtures.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/x...tm_source=digg

be careful. people have sent me messages about hairdryers killing coronavirus. one was a nurse!

some like to fvck with the public at such times or throw their theories out there when we need to listen to the experts.

mr wonder · #6 (**permalink**) 03-20-2020, 08:59 PM

In my extremely non-professional opinion Copper, Silver, And Vitamins C and D are all good option for prevention and treatment of any Viruses and Bacteria.
One thing's for sure they all have longer tract records in fighting diseases than any new vaccine. And it's guaranteed that they won't kill you.

saltwn · #7 (**permalink**) 03-20-2020, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr wonder

In my extremely non-professional opinion Copper, Silver, And Vitamins C and D are all good option for prevention and treatment of any Viruses and Bacteria.
One thing's for sure they all have longer tract records in fighting diseases than any new vaccine. And it's guaranteed that they won't kill you.

then any new vaccine; how disingenuous of you.

of course. a dog turd has a longer track record than a new vaccine.
and limes prevent scurvy but no amount of vitamins or minerals deterred polio ele rich people (FDR) would not have got it.
the copper story is ok for after the pandemic has subsided but we shouldn't take our eyes off the goal here. hand washing 6 minutes and stay away from others. clean counters w alcohol or bleach and water. get updates then watch a movie or turn the tv off. better to get updates from the cdc or wh websites.

jimbo · #8 (**permalink**) 03-20-2020, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltwn

then any new vaccine; how disingenuous of you.

of course. a dog turd has a longer track record than a new vaccine.
and limes prevent scurvy but no amount of vitamins or minerals deterred polio ele rich people (FDR) would not have got it.
the copper story is ok for after the pandemic has subsided but we shouldn't take our eyes off the goal here. hand washing 6 minutes and stay away from others. clean counters w alcohol or bleach and water. get updates then watch a movie or turn the tv off. better to get updates from the cdc or wh websites.

If copper or any other substances can be shown or even suspected of having an effect on this virus, then we absolutely should take a serious look at it as a potential cure.

saltwn · #9 (**permalink**) 03-20-2020, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbo

If copper or any other substances can be shown or even suspected of having an effect on this virus, then we absolutely should take a serious look at it as a potential cure.

true. iodine kills HIV on a surface but not in the body. viruses are tricky. killing it in drains and pipes won't help if you bring it home on your hands then hug your wife before washing your hands.
that's all I'm saying. be mindful of what we know.

saltwn · #10 (**permalink**) 03-20-2020, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manitou

I read that the ancient Romans would drop a silver coin into their water supply to keep the water clean. Copper and silver and gold oxidize and release bacteria and virus killing atoms. Maybe gold not as much, since it has a very slow oxidation rate. I'm no chemist, though.

moss cleans water in wood containers

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