Copper History

 

Copper history

Since primitive man first discovered copper, the red metal has constantly served the advancement of civilization. Archeologists probing ancient ruins have discovered that this enduring metal was a great boon to many peoples. Tools for handicraft and agriculture, weapons for hunting, and articles for decorative and household uses were wrought from copper by early civilizations. The craftsmen who built the great pyramid for the egyptian pharaoh cheops fashioned copper pipe to convey water to the royal bath. A remnant of this pipe was unearthed some years ago still in usable condition, a testimonial to copper's durability and resistance to corrosion.

Modern technology, recognizing that no material is superior to copper for conveying water, has reconfirmed it as the prime material for such purposes. Years of trouble-free service in installations here and abroad have built a new reputation for copper piping in its modern form—light, strong, corrosion resistant tube. It serves all kinds of buildings: single-family homes, high-rise apartments and industrial, commercial and office buildings.

Today, copper tube for the plumbing, heating and air-conditioning industries is available in drawn and annealed tempers (referred to in the trades as "Hard" and "Soft") and in a wide range of diameters and wall thicknesses. Readily available fittings serve every design application. Joints are simple, reliable and economical to make—additional reasons for selecting copper tube.

Copper’s virus-killing powers were known even to the ancients
The sars-cov-2 virus endures for days on plastic or metal but disintegrates soon after landing on copper surfaces. Here’s why A recent report published in the new england journal of medicine reminds us of the almost miraculous power of copper to kill microbes on contact. The study found no detectable amounts of the sars-cov-2 virus after four hours on a copper surface. Compare that to the virus lasting three days on plastic, two days on stainless steel and one day on cardboard.

While the confirmation of copper as a killer of the sars-cov-2 is new, we have known of copper’s lethality to germs for thousands of years—long before we knew of germs.

A history lesson forgotten
In the ancient armies of egypt and babylon, soldiers found that scraping their bronze (copper and tin) swords into wounds would reduce infection. In india, water was stored in copper pots to prevent illness.

In the 19th century, a physician noticed that none of the workers at a copper smelter in paris were getting cholera, a bacterial disease. Waves of cholera were sweeping through paris, killing thousands and filling city hospitals. Jewelers, goldsmiths, boiler makers—who also worked with copper and copper alloys—were also spared. In 1865, cholera killed 6,176 parisians out of a total population of 1,677,000, a ratio of 0.37 percent. Of those who had contact with copper, only 45 had succumbed to the disease, a ratio of 0.05 percent.

The existence of disease-causing microbes, be they amoebas, bacteria or viruses, has been followed by findings of their inability to survive on copper. Even the hardiest of pathogens—the ones that fall into the frightening class of diseases referred to as hai, or healthcare-associated infections—the super villains that run rampant in hospital environments and are impervious to every chemical, antibacterial medicine, or antiviral treatment, have their kryptonite. A 2013 study by dr.Cassandra salgado found that hai rates in three intensive care units (icus) with copper clad surfaces were 58 percent lower than in standard icus.

How copper kills
Killing by contact. Shown is the tentative events in copper’s contact killing. A: copper dissolves from the copper surface and causes cell damage. B: the cell membrane ruptures because of copper and other stress phenomena, leading to loss of membrane potential and cytoplasmic content. C: copper ions induce the generation of reactive oxygen species, which cause further cell damage. D: genomic and plasmid dna becomes degraded. (image courtesy of american society of microbiology.)