Posted on 03/26/2008 7:03:22 PM PDT by neverdem
The market for antimicrobial doorknobs, hospital fixtures and other products that kill germs on contact may be about to take on a coppery sheen.
The Copper Development Association, a trade group for copper companies, said Tuesday that federal regulators had approved its application to market a group of copper alloys, including brass and bronze, as capable of killing bacteria and microbes effectively enough to protect human health.
Copper ions can penetrate the cell walls of microbes and can disrupt reproduction and other cell functions.
The approval is the first time that the Environmental Protection Agency has allowed health claims to be attached to a solid antimicrobial material rather than a liquid or aerosol disinfectant. The agency regulates antimicrobials not applied directly to the body under the laws intended to control agricultural pesticides.
How widely the copper products will penetrate the multibillion-dollar market for antimicrobial products remains unclear. Copper is a relatively soft, easily tarnished metal that may not be suitable for many applications.
Researchers who worked on the concept expect hospitals and other public institutions to be the initial market for the product, based on the approvals gained by the trade group. The tests showed 99.9 percent kill rates within two hours against the leading antibiotic-resistant bacteria now plaguing hospitals, said Harold T. Michels, senior vice president for technology and technical services at the trade group.
“This is very, very solid data,” said Mr. Michels, who said that the tests involved more than 3,000 samples and included a requirement to reinfect a surface eight times in a single 24-hour period to prove the results were durable. Mr. Michels said clinical trials were under way to test how copper bed rails, arm rests and other hospital fixtures can reduce the numbers of bacteria in hospitals.
Scores of consumer products are already...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Ah great. This will mark the return of the copper bracelets of the early eighties, and the resulting greenish stains from those that refuse to remove them.
Whats next? Will they find that silver and sulfur have medicinal and bio properties?
How bout copper compound impregnated clear paint.. to paint door knobs and “other stuff”..
Silver has proved effecive on vampires and lychens, and it is highly antimicrobial too. My water filter is coated with silver.
Perusing listings of antique, classic wooden yachts, sometimes you’ll find one with a “copper-sheathed” bottom hull. They are prized by aficionados. (no bottom painting needed, among other things)
The USS Constitution was sheathed with copper on the bottom.
At least silver doesn’t oxidize as readily as copper.
“Come and get me, copper!!”
Actually silver does have medicinal properties, silver is now used on surgical instruments for it’s antibiotic and anti bacterial qualities. Egyptians and Greeks purified their drinking water by storing in silver containers, it kills microbe of the nasty sort. Settlers of the West in the USA placed silver coins in their canteens to purify the water. Silver has no toxic properties and was the dominant anti microbial up until the invention of Penicillin. Silver is still used in dressings for burn victims and topical wounds. Silver kills bacteria, fungi and yeast forms.
There you have it.........now platinum, platinum is beginning to be used in all sorts of cancer therapies, but that’s another story!!
L0L!
I did chemotherapy in 1989 and the treatment was with a platinum compound.
Nasty stuff. But it worked...
this whole thing is easier said than done - has anyone looked at the copper prices and supply....let alone Chinas demand?
"The FDA does not consider colloidal silver safe or effective to treat any disease or condition. In fact, taking it could have serious side effects, such as Argyria, which is an irreversible blue-gray discoloration of your skin, nails and gums, seizures and other neurological problems or Kidney damage."
So it keeps the vampires away from your faucet. I'm glad to hear that. It's really important.
Silver kills microbes in water sucked out of “clean” mountain streams, it is important if you don’t want to get the runs.
USS Constitution showing portion of copper-sheath hull
The idea was to attach a mine via a line that attached to the hull via a "screw".
The screw was cast iron, and it just couldn't penetrate the copper.
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