Antimicrobial

Historic Antimicrobial Uses of Copper

Typical brass mutka from rural Rajasthan, India

Copper and its alloys (brasses, bronzes, copper nickels, copper nickel zincs, and others) are inherently antimicrobial materials. Man exploited the antimicrobial attributes of copper long before the nineteenth century, when Louis Pasteur developed the germ theory of disease which states that infections are caused by microbes invading the human body. Egyptians used copper drinking vessels to sterilize water. The Hippocrates Collection, 460 to 380 B.C., to which the father of medicine contributed, recommends the use of copper for leg ulcers related to varicose veins. Pliny, 23 to 79 A.D., used copper oxide with honey to treat intestinal worms. The Aztecs gargled with a mixture containing copper to treat sore throats.

In light of this history, modern researchers began exploring the antimicrobial properties of copper in a variety of settings. A recent study compared bacteria levels in water stored in brass (a copper alloy) vessels traditionally used in rural India to the water stored in earthenware vessels. In a 1983 study, bacteria levels were examined on brass and stainless steel doorknobs in a hospital. The results of these studies led researchers to initiate controlled studies using EPA-approved test protocols to qualify scientifically the antimicrobial properties of copper.