Copper has literally been around since the ancient of days. There have been historial findings of copper from prehistoric times and evidence in Egyptians hieroglyphs that revealed their heavy reliance on the precious metal.
It wasn’t unitl the late 1800’s that the Americas started to see the trememdous value of copper and started mining for the metal. Copper became the industry standard in cable and wire, and plumbing and the auto indusrty in more recent years.
In the last 10 years, the copper is seeing an uptick in growth especially in the healthcare industry. Copper has been known for its physical properties of corrosion resistance, heat conduction and its recycled life cycle but it is becoming even more sought out for its other natural characteristic of antimicrobial properties. Copper in its natural state has been found to have germ killing components that will kill over 99.9% of E. coli microbes after just 1–2 hours on copper where on stainless steel surfaces, the microbes can survive for weeks.
More and more in depth studies are finding that copper and copper alloy products can be used to eliminate pathogens and reduce the spread of diseases. Laboratory testing has been shown that copper continuously kills bacteria that are commonly found in the healthcare industry. There are hospitals and healthcare facilites that are replacing their old fixtures with copper instead in the heavily used areas such as door handles, doors, and hand railings. Early results show that contamination has significantly reduced since the copper by 83-100%.
So is copper the healthier option to use in bathroom design? These early tests are all pointing to yes. Time will tell, but what we know for sure is that a copper tub, sink, swimming pool or spa is beautiful and one the next generation will surely enjoy.
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