Do read the article by Mark Wilson –Copper kills coronavirus, why aren’t our surfaces covered in it?
Copper kills coronavirus
In China, it was called “qi,” the symbol for health. In Egypt it was called “ankh,” the symbol for eternal life. For the Phoenicians, the reference was synonymous with Aphrodite—the goddess of love and beauty.
These ancient civilizations were referring to copper, a material that cultures across the globe have recognized as vital to our health for more than 5,o00 years. When influenzas, bacteria like E. coli, superbugs like MRSA, or even coronaviruses land on most hard surfaces, they can live for up to four to five days. But when they land on copper, and copper alloys like brass, they die within minutes. “We’ve seen viruses just blow apart,” says Bill Keevil, professor of environmental healthcare at the University of Southampton. “They land on copper and it just degrades them.”
No wonder that in India, people have been drinking out of copper cups for millennia. Even here in the United States, a copper line brings in your drinking water. Copper is a natural, passive, antimicrobial material. It can self-sterilize its surface without the need for electricity or bleach.
Copper boomed during the Industrial Revolution as a material for objects, fixtures, and buildings. Copper is still widely used in power networks—the copper market is, in fact, growing because the material is such an effective conductor. But the material has been pushed out of many building applications by a wave of new materials from the 20th century. Plastics, tempered glass, aluminum, and stainless steel are the materials of modernity—used for everything from architecture to Apple products. Brass door knobs and handrails went out of style as architects and designers opted for sleeker-looking (and often cheaper) materials.
Now Keevil believes it’s time to bring copper back in public spaces, and hospitals in particular. In the face of an unavoidable future full of global pandemics, we should be using copper in healthcare, public transit, and even our homes. And while it’s too late to stop COVID-19, it’s not too early to think about our next pandemic.
The benefits of copper, quantified
We should have seen it coming, and in reality, someone did.
In 1983, medical researcher Phyllis J. Kuhn wrote the first critique of the disappearance of copper she’d noticed in hospitals. During a training exercise on hygiene at Hamot Medical center in Pittsburgh, students swabbed various surfaces around the hospital, including toilets bowls and door knobs. She noticed the toilets were clean of microbes, while some of the fixtures were particularly dirty and grew dangerous bacteria when allowed to multiply on agar plates.
My comments – now that a Western writer has endorsed Copper can we desi Indians accept that our ancestors were not really dumb after all ?? :):). Start using copper bottles rather than the fancy glass and plastic ones. Hey, I feel the pain. I was just like you thinking all this copper-fixation is some mumbo-jumbo till I started reading a bit more about Ayurveda. Nearly 6 years after dad passed away, I started using his copper water pots and bought a couple of copper bottles for us to use.
Corona Virus is making us re-think about our hygiene practices and many of the so called “Brahmin” traditions actually were driven by hygiene in mind and not social discrimination as they got painted. Expect a run on the copper bottles in the super markets :(. Buy one and leave the others for the other folk who also need to stay safe from the virus. You cannot ride this dragon alone …
Also spare a thought for all those people who worked at the Sterlite plant in Tuticorin making India Copper sufficient… with the vested interests playing their cards well, that plant is shut now and India has become a net importer of Copper. Always follow the money trail … it invariably leads you to the culprit. Read these two articles – https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/whats-wrong-with-vedantas-sterlite-unit-in-tuticorin-6-things-you-should-know/articleshow/64273066.cms?from=mdr.
And who do we import Copper from ? China, UAE and USA are the top countries from where we import Copper. Now do the math for yourself.
dear Malu, the biggest drawback in using copper or brass is they become poisonous even with common acidic substances curd, tamarind , lime, etc..( suspected cause for Nanu’s demise) People should be well aware of this. Then only we can bring these metals for common use.
Yes Koka – Copper was and should be used only for water. The best thing is not to use Brass as the way to use it is not known to the current generation.