Interesting. I knew they used copper pipes for such things as refrigerator automatic ice makers because of it’s anti bacterial properties.
When I was a kid, Mother would treat impetigo with ammoniated mercury. It worked but I bet they would not allow it today.
Mercury has it’s own set of problems on top of being antimicrobial. Along those same lines, I suspect we’ll rue the day that salt became “bad.” It’s an excellent preservative, and like most preservatives, it’s antimicrobial. Losing the salt in canned goods is going to make an outbreak of something nasty and food-borne more likely, imho.