Please enjoy these excerpts from a Copper Development Association Inc. article regarding the importance of copper and bronze to civilization. Intercept Technology packaging products have a copper backbone bonded into the plastics packaging that acts as a an atmospheric barrier to protect the product inside from corrosion, static charges, and mildew.
Bronze Age Discovery Mirrors Modern Era
As valuable as bronze was to ancient civilizations, today it and other copper-based alloys like brass and copper-nickel are being recognized anew as being beneficial to mankind in an altogether different way. Scientific testing has recently confirmed that copper and certain copper alloys are inherently anti-microbial; In other words, certain bacteria*, die within two hours when they come in contact copper alloys.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has registered 275 copper alloys as antimicrobial materials. The registration was granted based on independent laboratory tests demonstrating that, when cleaned regularly, uncoated copper, brass and bronze are extremely effective in killing disease-causing bacteria*, including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), one of the most virulent strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and a common cause of hospital- and community-acquired infections.
Materials such as bronze and brass may one day replace many of the plastic and stainless steel surfaces in homes, public buildings and facilities where disease-causing bacteria collect.
In many ways, this latest revelation brings bronze full circle in historical and social terms. Many ancient cultures used copper and copper alloys as curatives for infection and other ailments. Even the excavators of the Uluburun shipwreck, (a late Bronze Age shipwreck), noted that the slowly corroding copper in the ship’s hold created an environment that “kept away predatory marine organisms … preserving the hull timbers” and other artifacts found on the seabed after thousands of years. (Similarly, Intercept Technology plastic packaging sacrifices itself to the betterment of the products inside, creating a safe micro-environment. Though Intercept protection offers a long shelf life, we certainly we do not make claims for “thousands of years”!)
Now, the same metal that rocked the cradle of civilization, that enabled the kingdoms of Babylonia, Egypt and Troy, is being viewed as a formidable ally in modern mankind’s ongoing battle against a biological scourge that until today has defied an easy remedy.
*Intercept products have not been tested by the EPA for anti-microbial capabilities.
Intercept Technology Packaging products fit within a sustainability strategy because they are reusable, recyclable, do not contain or use volatile components (No VOCs, Not a VCI) and leave a smaller carbon footprint than most traditional protective packaging products.
Liberty Intercept Blog
Copper as Anti-Microbial
Posted by Joe Spitz on Mar 19, 2013 9:40:00 AM
Bronze Age Discovery Mirrors Modern Era
As valuable as bronze was to ancient civilizations, today it and other copper-based alloys like brass and copper-nickel are being recognized anew as being beneficial to mankind in an altogether different way. Scientific testing has recently confirmed that copper and certain copper alloys are inherently anti-microbial; In other words, certain bacteria*, die within two hours when they come in contact copper alloys.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has registered 275 copper alloys as antimicrobial materials. The registration was granted based on independent laboratory tests demonstrating that, when cleaned regularly, uncoated copper, brass and bronze are extremely effective in killing disease-causing bacteria*, including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), one of the most virulent strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and a common cause of hospital- and community-acquired infections.
Materials such as bronze and brass may one day replace many of the plastic and stainless steel surfaces in homes, public buildings and facilities where disease-causing bacteria collect.
In many ways, this latest revelation brings bronze full circle in historical and social terms. Many ancient cultures used copper and copper alloys as curatives for infection and other ailments. Even the excavators of the Uluburun shipwreck, (a late Bronze Age shipwreck), noted that the slowly corroding copper in the ship’s hold created an environment that “kept away predatory marine organisms … preserving the hull timbers” and other artifacts found on the seabed after thousands of years. (Similarly, Intercept Technology plastic packaging sacrifices itself to the betterment of the products inside, creating a safe micro-environment. Though Intercept protection offers a long shelf life, we certainly we do not make claims for “thousands of years”!)
Now, the same metal that rocked the cradle of civilization, that enabled the kingdoms of Babylonia, Egypt and Troy, is being viewed as a formidable ally in modern mankind’s ongoing battle against a biological scourge that until today has defied an easy remedy.
*Intercept products have not been tested by the EPA for anti-microbial capabilities.
Intercept Technology Packaging products fit within a sustainability strategy because they are reusable, recyclable, do not contain or use volatile components (No VOCs, Not a VCI) and leave a smaller carbon footprint than most traditional protective packaging products.
Topics: Copper, Intercept Technology packaging, anti-microbial
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