https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/
Copper has properties that stops bacteria from reproducing
A Vancouver-based mining company wants to see copper in more public spaces due to its antimicrobial properties. Teck Resources Limited will make that pitch to delegates at the on-line portion of the Prospectors and Developers Association Conference in Toronto, June 28th and 29tt.
The company has started to work with hospitals, daycares and public transit authorities to install copper on surfaces that are touched frequently. Catherine Adair, the company’s manager of community development, said many studies have found copper kills 99.9 per cent of harmful bacteria within two hours.
“So after someone touches a door handle, they may leave behind some germs,” Adair said. “If it’s a copper door handle the copper immediately starts killing the germs that are sitting on that door handle.”
Vasu Appanna, a biochemistry professor at Laurentian University, in Sudbury, Ont., said copper interferes with genetic material in bacteria that allow them to reproduce, and kills microbes over time.
For the rest of this article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/copper-bacteria-teck-resources-1.6497330