Making touch surfaces actively and continuously kill bacteria* that cause infections
Every day, we come into contact with a variety of touch surfaces. From subway grab rails to doorknobs, keyboards, and telephones, touch is a fundamental part of our day-to-day lives. Unfortunately, these same objects we touch are also touched by many others. Frequent contact can leave behind infectious bacteria on these surfaces, putting the next user at risk. Harmful organisms can survive on surfaces like stainless steel and plastic for days and even months, still posing a threat to human health.1 And once you know that 80% of infectious diseases are transferred by touch, the need to clean surfaces becomes evident.2 However, cleaning the surfaces is only part of the solution. Even strict hand washing and disinfection protocols recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are not enough to prevent infections in hospitals. What is needed is a touch surface that continually kills bacteria* that cause infections and illness. In the past, silver-containing coatings have been tried, and found inadequate as they only protect the product itself and not the person using it.
Now, a new category of touch surface materials has become available: Antimicrobial Copper. Antimicrobial Copper is the most effective* antimicrobial touch surface material, killing more than 99.9% of bacteria* within two hours of exposure. No other material, such as stainless steel or silver-containing coatings, comes close.
To review the complete list of EPA approved uses for Antimicrobial Copper, please read: EPA Approved Uses
[1] Kramer et al. (2006), BMC Infectious Diseases 6:130.
[2] TIERNO, P. (2001): The Secret Life of Germs. Atria Books: New York, NY, USA.
*Laboratory testing shows that, when cleaned regularly, antimicrobial copper surfaces kill greater than 99.9% of the following bacteria within 2 hours of exposure: MRSA, VRE, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and E. coli O157:H7. Antimicrobial copper surfaces are a supplement to and not a substitute for standard infection control practices and have been shown to reduce microbial contamination, but do not necessarily prevent cross contamination or infections; users must continue to follow all current infection control practices.