Regulators Stamp Copper as a Germ Killer

NY Times ^ | March 26, 2008 | BARNABY J. FEDER

[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...

[Uriah_lost]

Thats what hull paint is on boats, usually blue-green. Copper is deadly to invertebrates. A penny in somebodies saltwater aquarium can wipe it out.

[Sender]

I knew that because I have been on the USS Constitution, have held the wheel in my hands! I went there during Tall Ships 2000 in Boston.

My signature and the names of my family are peened somewhere on one of the new copper panels that now grace the hull.

[Barnacle]

The USS Constitution was sheathed with copper on the bottom.

That was to kill barnacles... Not that I take that personal.

[Sender]

LOL, as long as you stay above the waterline, you should be OK.

[Trajan88]

Copper (and zink) penny for your thoughts ;-)

[tongass kid]

Additionally, silver fillings are better at resisting bacteria and therefore tend to protect the tooth better from recurrent decay than white fillings.

[Grizzled Bear]

I was just responding to your comment about vampires. Have you been having problems with them lately?

[GOPJ]

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.

With insurance companies balking at paying for diseases caused by hospital stays - this solution has legs...

[Sender]

No, no actual vampires or lychens have been sighted. I'm merely a product of my environment, with many movies. I doubt if they exist, but who knows.

I'd like to keep a few fine silver rounds handy. If nothing else, they are elegant and don't foul the bore. And what a statement.

The Lone Ranger approves.

[neverdem]

Spit tests may soon replace many blood tests

What a Rodent Can Do With a Rake in Its Paw (tool-using rodent)

Are We Ready to Track Carbon Footprints?

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.

[ModelBreaker]

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.

Well, they have the last laugh. I bet not one of them got an infection in the green spot.

[ModelBreaker]

Whats next? Will they find that silver and sulfur have medicinal and bio properties?

Well, silver has bio properties. It turns you blue. Arsenic and Chromium have bio properties also--not nice ones.

[Nailbiter]

Think pennies, huge supply in hands of citizens, lurking in fountains, at river bottoms, on rail lines.
LOl

[Nailbiter]

Ithought the greenspot was the infection

[ModelBreaker]

Ithought the greenspot was the infection

Perhaps a sign of an inner infection of the spirit.

[Grampa Dave]

Silver works. Apparently so does copper, and it is cheaper.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

With all the copper thieves out there it will now be hard to open and close the doors at the hospital.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Argyria isn't caused by the Silver, but by impurities in the water when folks make their own, and don't filter before drinking it.

Silver is often maligned because of the slang term for Mercury - Quicksilver, and it's use in Dental fillings - Silver-Zinc-Mercury Amalgam.

Also, I've seen some make your own CS sites for plants that used silver coins for the electrodes. Silver coinage for the most part is 90% Silver and 10% Copper. If one were to drink that, it could very easily cause the other problems you sited, as Copper is toxic to humans in more than trace amounts.

Silver has a long history of medical use, before Coal and Petroleum derived antibiotics, it was commonly used to cure many bacterial and fungal infections. It is still used in newborn's eyes after exposure to bacteria in the birth canal, in bandages for burn victims, to purify water, etc. It's still used in plate and Silverware, Jewellry, as well, wouldn't think that would be true if it were so toxic.

I've used CS for about 7 years now. I know folks that have used it for more than 20 years. None of them are gray, blue, or neurotic. If it was going to affect me or them, in any of those ways, it would have shown up by now, don't you think?

Do you eat Apples, BTW?

[Squantos]

Back when an ice box was a real ice box my ole granny used to toss a silver dollar into the pitcher of milk kept in that early version of a refrigerator to make it stay fresh longer.

I still have that silver dollar.

She was religious about dropping that silver dollar into the fresh milk we got from a farmer down the road.

[CDHart]

I had carboplatin and taxol - I believe the carboplatin was platinum based. But I found that your body will accept only so much of the platinum. My second bout with lung cancer, they used the carboplatin and I had an extreme anaphylactic (I think) reaction. My nurse daughter tells me that once you reach the saturation point, you can never take it again.

Carolyn