Covid-19 has swept through the world, causing an emergency unlike anything experienced in in most of our lifetimes. This pandemic has left experts scratching their head, wondering what
could have been done differently to have mitigated this catastrophe.
But, could the answer be as simple as replacing surfaces with a common metal?
Since copper is a naturally occurring metal, it has been used by man since the early days of humanity for objects, such as weapons, tools and jewellery. In ancient Egypt, they used it
to purify water as well as to sterilise battle wounds to prevent infection. Many societies having been brewing and drinking tea in copper appliances. People in India and turkey have
been proclaiming the health benefits of this for centuries.
These examples are years before our scientific understanding of microbes had developed, but it is clear to see that people have been aware of its health benefits for a long time.
At the start of the 21st century, Professor Bill Keevil, the Director of Environmental Healthcare Unit at Southampton University, started to really probe what it was about copper that
had made people throughout history recognise its healing potential. He found that the copper ions penetrate bacteria cells and inhibit their respiration. He also discovered that the
ions attacked the DNA of the cell and destroyed it making gene transfer no longer possible.
Speaking to Healthcare in Europe he said…“We know that copper kills viruses and destroys DNA, including plasmids, so this should stop the transfer of DNA, which would include those
toxic genes and also the transfer of antibody resistance from one species to another”
So, with the health benefits of copper known, why don’t we see it used more today?
Well, stainless steel and plastic surfaces are generally considered cleaner looking and so they have become readily adopted in hospitals to help patients feel that they were in sterile
surroundings.
Also, there’s a general misconception that silver is a better antimicrobial metal and while it’s true that silver does have an antibacterial effect, it does not have this effect when
the surface is dry, whereas copper works without the need of moisture.
According to research conducted by the New England Journal of Medicine, COVID-19 lives on copper surfaces for 4 hours while managing to survive on plastic and stainless steel for up to
3 days! However, truth be told, anti-bacterial cleaning and hand washing is still very much needed, but having copper doorknobs and surfaces, especially in hospitals, could help stop
or slow down the transmission of germs and diseases.
Covid-19 has already swept across the globe so it’s too late to change our surfaces now. But sadly, this won’t be the last pandemic, and perhaps the switch to copper can prepare us for
the next one.
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