• Copper can kill viruses and other germs by disrupting the protective layers of the organisms and interfering with its vital processes.
• A study found that SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the coronavirus pandemic, is no longer infectious on copper within 4 hours, whereas it can survive on plastic surfaces for 72 hours.  
• Copper has many applications in hospitals and other places where germs are likely to spread.
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Copper does kill germs

Copper has antimicrobial properties, meaning it can kill microorganisms like bacteria and viruses. However, the microorganism has to come in contact with the copper in order for it to be killed. This is referred to as "contact killing."

According to Edward Bilsky, Ph.D., Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, copper can kill germs in a few ways:

• It disrupts bacterial cell membranes — copper ions damage cell membranes or "envelopes" and can destroy the DNA or RNA of the microbe
• It generates oxidative stress on bacterial cells and creates hydrogen peroxide that can kill the cell
• It interferes with proteins that operate important functions that keep bacterial cells alive

The exact mechanism of how copper interferes with proteins in bacterial cells is not fully understood yet, but the current hypothesis is mis-metalation, thanks to the fact that copper is a stable metal.

"Mis-metalation is the ability of a metal to basically replace another metal," says Michael D. L. Johnson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Immunobiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson. "Copper can just replace some of the other metals that are present in some of these other proteins [in bacteria] and by doing so, it blocks the function of those proteins."

When you block a protein's function, it starts a bacteria-killing chain reaction. "By blocking the function of the protein, you block the function of the pathway. When you block the function of the pathway, you block the function of the organism, and then the organism is just dead in the water," says Johnson.

Copper can kill viruses and bacteria 

Studies have shown that copper can kill many types of germs on contact. According to a 2015 study published in Health Environments Research and Design Journal, some of the common germs copper has been proven to kill are:

• MRSA
• E. coli
• Influenza A
• Norovirus

Brand new research published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that copper can be effective against SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the coronavirus pandemic. The study showed that after four hours, the virus was no longer infectious on copper's surface. In comparison, coronavirus was still infectious on plastic surfaces after 72 hours. 

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