Antimicrobial copper

The health benefits of copper have been known by man since ancient times. The Egyptians used copper to make drinking vessels and water pipes, while others wore copper bracelets to ward off disease.

Although the Ancient Egyptians and Greeks may not have realized it, copper is an effective antimicrobial material destroying 99.9% of bacteria within two hours of exposure.

Last April, the UK’s University of Southampton broadcast a live experiment which displayed just how lethal the metal is to harmful microbes (http://www.antimicrobialtouchsurface.com/).

Bacteria of the deadly MRSA strain, a common cause of hospital infection, began dying within minutes of being placed on a copper alloy surface. The same microbes placed on stainless steel can survive for several weeks or months.

Infections picked up in hospital have become a major challenge for health services around the world. In Europe alone, approximately four million people pick up healthcare-associated infections while in hospital each year.

The global copper industry, led by the International Copper Association, of which Xstrata Copper is a member, is supporting pilot programs to install critical items such as tables, bedrails and poles made from copper alloys in hospital intensive care units.

Hospitals in Chile, the UK and Japan are taking part in clinical trials and initial results have been very encouraging. One trial at the Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham, England, showed copper products had 90%-100% less microbes than other the same items made from standard materials.

In July 2011 researchers at three US hospitals involved in a multi-site clinical trial found that antimicrobial copper touch surfaces reduce hospital acquired infections by 40%.

But it is not only in hospitals that antimicrobial surfaces could assist in reducing infections. Bacteria are spread between people through contact through countless objects each day, suggesting a myriad of potential uses for anti-microbial copper.

The Santiago Bueras station in Santiago, part of the city’s underground rail system, is the first in the world to install banisters and handrails made from copper alloys to reduce infections between passengers. The rail company Metro de Santiago now plans to use copper alloys in all new stations.