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 ...
Carolyn
It also killed wood eating microbes. The antimicrobial properties of copper have been known for quite some time, even if they didn’t know of the existence of microbes.
Thanks for the link.
I believe it!
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