Pub 9 2021 Issue 1

airborne particles, not contact with infected surfaces — but it is another defensive tool. Manufacturers have seen the sales oppor- tunity of adding copper to products such as socks or masks. There are two concerns to be aware of, according to Djoko: • The amount of copper in a product matters. If a mask is 1% copper and 99% of something else, like fabric, it does not have enough copper to make a difference against the coronavirus. • Many household cleaners can strip off copper ions when a copper-laced mask is being frequently washed or disinfected. Wearing a mask, in general, is more import- ant than whether that mask contains copper. But using an adequate amount of copper in masks, combined with increasing the number of copper touchpoints, especially in high-traf- fic public places such as hospitals, could make a difference as everyone continues the fight against the pandemic and other hard-to- kill diseases. Since copper’s microbial properties have been understood for so long, why isn’t copper already commonly used to make products such as beds, doorknobs and railings? Michael Schmidt attributes it to arrogance and a preference for cheaper materials like aluminum, plastic and stainless steel. That may finally come to an end, especially since many harmful microbes can live on hard surfaces for up to five days. In 2015, for example, when medical researchers were studying human coronavirus 229E, they found it could infect lung cells five days after being on surfaces such as the following: • Ceramic • Glass • Silicone rubber • Stainless steel • Teflon That wasn’t true of copper surfaces, which quickly deactivated the coronavirus. When people touch an infected surface, it’s easy for the microbes to infect people through their eyes, mouth or nose. According to Michael Schmidt, combining standard hygiene protocols with copper touchpoints reduces the bacteria in medical hospitals and offices by 90%. According to a study in 1983, something as simple as replacing a stainless steel hospital doorknob with a copper one can eradicate E. coli growth. There are 1.7 million healthcare-associated infections (HAI) that result in 99,000 deaths annually. The annual cost of treatment (successful or not) is between $35.7 and $45 billion. For the current pandemic, a study in a Montana virology lab by the National Institutes of Health showed that spraying the COVID-19 virus onto common materials such as plastic and stainless steel could still potentially spread the disease for three days. When sprayed on copper, however, SARS- CoV2 was gone after four hours. Copper was more effective than any other material tested at killing the virus. Bill Keevil, a professor at the University of Southhampton in England who teaches environmental health care, is a fan of copper and has received funding from the Copper Development Association. He would like to see copper used in hospitals, public transportation systems, gyms and everyday objects such as pens. Doing so, he thinks, could reduce transmission of respiratory diseases. A three-hospital clinical trial in 2012 that was performed by Schmidt and other colleagues in New York City and Charleston found that patients were endangered by microbe contamination of the items that were closest to them: arms of the visitor chair, bed rails, the call button, the I.V. pole and the tray tables. Copper on just those items reduced microbe presence by 83% and HAIs by 58%, even though the copper was on less than 10% of the room’s surface area. Are there other ways to kill the bacteria and viruses that can cause HAIs? Yes: ultraviolet light and hydrogen peroxide gas both work. But they are harder to use. Copper is passive; actively decontaminat - ing a room is not. Also, a room can easily become recontaminated. Copper continues to work regardless. Additional benefits are clear: • There is plenty of copper. It isn’t going to run out soon. • Almost all copper can be recycled, and it is still effective afterward. • It does not wear out or lose its ability to kill microbes. Copper is not the only antimicrobial metal; silver is another one. But silver is ineffective when it is dry. Copper can be dry or wet. It even continues to work when it is tarnished. People may prefer the look of polished copper to tarnished copper, but is polishing important if copper prevents infection and saves lives regardless? Is copper too expensive? According to a 338-day study done by Keevil and Schmidt in 2015, copper prevented 14 infections and saved $397,600 in treatment costs for HAI. (To determine this number, they figured out how expensive each HAI was per patient, minus the price to install copper on 10% of the surfaces, and compared the results to the equivalent medical expenses when copper was not used.) Imagine how much copper could have helped the U.S. in March 2020. Imagine how much of a difference it could still make now. X V Continued from page 21 People may prefer the look of polished copper to tarnished copper, but is polishing important if copper prevents infection and saves lives regardless? MINING 22