Pub 9 2021 Issue 1

V Continued on page 22 Antimicrobial Copper U tah is known for its copper mining. But fewer people know about copper’s potential role as an effective antimicro- bial against health threats that include the following: • Cholera • Coronaviruses that include COVID-19 • MRSA • Norovirus • Virulent strains of E-coli Anciently, some people did understand that copper could help fight disease. The Smith Papyrus, written sometime 2600-2200 B.C., contains a description of copper’s first medi- cal use. The document says copper was used at that time to sterilize water and wounds. According to other records, Babylonian and Egyptian soldiers would take shavings from their bronze swords and use them to reduce infections. (Bronze contains copper and tin.) It took a long time for science to catch up. Thanks to Victor Burq (1822-1884), scientists and medical professionals have known copper had antimicrobial properties against cholera for more than 168 years. Victor Burq worked as a physician in France, and during his time there, he visited a copper smelting facility in April 1852. He figured out there had to be a connection between copper and its effective- ness against cholera after discovering that no one who worked at that or other nearby copper smelters died of cholera during cholera epidemics in 1832, 1849 and 1852; the few who did get sick had mild cases. Living condi- tions in the smelter were poor, and those who lived there had high mortality rates from other causes. The only explanation for immunity to cholera had to be related to copper. Burq did a survey that eventually involved 300,000 people in Europe and compiled sta- tistical data tables drawn from the responses. Those tables are currently in the Académie de Médecine’s library in Paris. They made it clear that copper was as effective against cholera as quinine sulfate was against recurring malarial fevers. Additional research during the cholera epidemics of 1854 and 1855 allowed him to discover that jewelers, goldsmiths, boilermak- ers and people who played brass instruments also stayed well. During an 1865 epidemic, 3.7 people per every 1,000 died of cholera. For people who worked with copper, the fatality rate was 0.5 per 1,000. By 1867, after additional research on 400 dif- ferent Paris businesses and factories, and after collecting reports on more than 200,000 people in England, Sweden and Russia, he determined that copper could be used to prevent cholera. Some architects took note. For example, New York City’s Grand Central Station has a grand staircase with antimicrobial copper handrails. How does copper kill microbes? • Karrera Djoko, a biochemist and microbi- ologist at England’s Durham University, says copper releases ions that can puncture and access germs to affect its genetic material. • Michael Johnson, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona, says copper replaces other metal ions within a cell or virus; since metal ions are in about 40% of proteins with known structures, the copper metal ions can inhibit or destroy those proteins. Even though 40% is not 100%, it’s enough to shut the proteins down. • Michael Schmidt is a professor. He teaches microbiology and immunology at the Medical University of South Carolina; he says copper interacts with oxygen to create free radicals that explode viruses (including their DNA and RNA) on contact. Once destroyed, they can no longer mutate to resist cop- per or pass genes on to other microbes, which means copper will continue to be effective. That matters when so many antibiotic-resistant bacterias have become common. • Researchers have learned that immune cells called macrophages envelop and separate germs in an acidic chamber. The macrophages then spike the cham- ber with copper doses. In short, touching copper is the equivalent of sanitizing your hands. It doesn’t replace avoiding the virus by wearing masks, washing hands or social distancing — especially since the virus seems to be transmitted most by FOCUS 21