Copper and many of its alloys, including brass and bronze, are registered as antimicrobial by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. According to the EPA, regularly-cleaned antimicrobial copper and copper alloys “continuously kill greater than 99% of bacteria within 2 hours of exposure.”
According to the Copper Development Association, 80% of infections are transmitted by touch. As such, the use of anti-microbial copper surfaces in healthcare facilities and other high traffic areas – including homes – could greatly reduce the risk of disease for anyone who uses those surfaces.
A multi-site clinical trial published in 2013 demonstrated that the introduction of antimicrobial copper surfaces in intensive care rooms could reduce the rate of infection in these spaces by 58%. In laboratory testing, antimicrobial copper surfaces killed almost all surface bacteria in just over an hour, while stainless steel and a silver-containing coating showed little change in bacterial population over the course of six hours.
EPA-approved applications for antimicrobial copper in the home include wall plates, hand rails, stair rails, grab bars, and door, cabinet, and window hardware – objects that residents touch frequently. Residential manufacturers that make components from antimicrobial copper include Rocky Mountain Hardware, Trimco, and Elkay. Rocky Mountain Hardware produces hardware, faucets, switch plates, hooks, and grab bars cast from CuVerro antibacterial copper. Elkay offers 79 sink bowls manufactured from CuVerro, including ADA-compliant top-mount sinks. Hussey Copper produces wall plates, tile, sinks, push and pull plates, and cabinet pulls from its own MD-CU29 antimicrobial copper alloy.
A complete list of antimicrobial copper alloy manufacturers registered under the International Copper Association is available here, and a complete list of registered component manufacturers is available here.
