Copper against viruses and bacteria: a new boom ahead?

As already known from the earliest civilizations, copper and its alloys have a natural ability to eliminate a wide variety of harmful microbes, viruses, and bacteria relatively quickly, often in less than two hours.
Scientific literature cites copper's ability to inactivate different types of noxious bacteria, fungi, and viruses, from e-coli to helicobacter pylori and tuberculosis.
Not only does pure copper work, but also its alloys!
According to Copper Alliance, tests have been carried out on pure copper, alloys with high copper content, bronze, brass, cupronickel, and copper-nickel-zinc alloys. The higher the copper content, the faster the alloy acts. In general, an alloy with 60% or more copper has a good antibacterial effect.
However, this does not apply if the surfaces are coated. Antimicrobial properties are intrinsic to copper, so if you want to keep them, copper alloy objects should not be treated with waxes, paints, or other coatings.
What about COVID-19? A very interesting infographic by Visual Capitalist explores the effectiveness of copper against the virus compared to other materials. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that “certain copper alloys provide long-term effectiveness against viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. EPA expects these products to eliminate 99.9 percent of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, within two hours.”

The applications of copper in the light of these considerations are innumerable: from door handles and poles on public transport vehicles to handholds and bed frames in healthcare centers, but also in airports, training centers, schools. The market size of antimicrobial copper is expected to grow at a very fast pace over the next five years.

In a context of decarbonization, where electric vehicles and renewable energy plants require a massive presence of CU, these important anti-germ properties of copper suggest that the future of metals could lean decisively towards red.

Photo credits: picture by Codelco, Creative Commons License