Claims of miracle treatments for our health and wellness never seem to end. We are bombarded with ads for fad diets, medicines that cure everything from acne to toe fungus, and supplements that not only make us healthy but also happy. Determining whether claims by purveyors of would-be treatments are credible, however, is very difficult to do without wide-scale testing. One recent claim is that a familiar metal, copper, could help us beat back the COVID-19 pandemic. There is already some basic science to suggest that it might help in some ways. Copper has natural antibacterial and antiviral properties, which seem to come from copper’s ability to conduct electricity. If a microbe touches a copper surface, the metal carries electrons away from the organism’s outer layer, disrupting its metabolism and destroying it in a matter of minutes to hours.
ANCIENT ORIGINS:
Copper’s antimicrobial properties have been put to use for at least 8,000 years, even though the earliest adopters didn’t understand how the metal worked. During the Bronze Age, water was stored in copper vessels to help prevent waterborne illnesses. Today, some health experts suggest that we should convert surfaces in hospitals and other public places to copper to take advantage of the metal’s germ-busting effect. Copper door handles and counter tops instead of stainless steel, which lacks the ability to kill microbes, might make public places safer. Creating copper surfaces is not meant to be a stand-alone tactic, however, as it takes up to four hours or longer for SARS-CoV-2 (the corona virus that causes COVID-19) to be killed on a copper surface. Also, research points to aerosols as the primary mode of transmission, not surfaces. To block airborne viral particles, face masks have become an important line of defence, particularly to help prevent asymptomatic carriers from spreading the disease. Applying what we know about copper, several manufacturers incorporate fine copper mesh in face masks.
WHAT IS CORONA VIRUS?
Corona viruses are a family of viruses that can cause respiratory illness in humans. They get their name, “corona,” from the many crown-like spikes on the surface of the virus. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and the common cold are examples of corona viruses that cause illness in humans. The new strain of corona virus, COVID-19, was first reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The virus has since spread to all continents (except Antarctica).
WHERE DO CORONA VIRUS COME FROM?
Corona viruses are often found in bats, cats and camels. The viruses live in but do not infect the animals. Sometimes these viruses then spread to different animal species. The viruses may change (mutate) as they transfer to other species. Eventually, the virus can jump from animal species and begins to infect humans. In the case of COVID-19, the first people infected in Wuhan, China are thought to have contracted the virus at a food market that sold meat, fish and live animals – but they are still investigating. Although researchers don’t know exactly how people were infected, they already have evidence that the virus can be spread directly from person to person through close contact.
WEIGHING WHAT WE KNOW
But is it worth paying extra for a copper layer? Many medical experts doubt that copper masks work better than regular masks for multiple reasons. Face masks with a copper layer contain varying amounts of copper, and there’s no way for a consumer to know how much coverage copper provides in any given mask. Rather than debate the merits of copper masks versus cloth-only face coverings, medical experts are more concerned with getting people to wear masks at all. By mid-summer, several studies on mask-wearing and declining infection rates suggest that donning masks—infused with copper or not—can greatly reduce the rate of transmission of the corona virus. Additionally, wearing face masks is only one tactic of several that are required for reducing the spread of COVID-19. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, other ways to limit the spread of the coronavirus include minimizing in-person contact with others, staying at least 6 feet apart when you are in the presence of others, and frequently washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. These methods have been shown to effectively reduce the spread of disease. Meanwhile, copper-containing masks have not been put through rigorous testing to see if they work against SARS-CoV-2. Until the results are in, the matter is open for discussion.