CAPITAL: The Voice of Business Issue 1, 2015 | Page 72

COPPER
metal ions to have a toxic effect on
bacteria, fungi, viruses, moulds, spores
and other micro-organisms. Silver, copper
and copper alloys were shown to be the
metals with the most pronounced effect
on bacteria, and subsequent tests have
indicated that copper is indeed the most
potent.
There have been many mentions of the
benefits of these metals since then, but
the extensive benefits of copper for health
are only now really being taken seriously
again.
Pietermaritzburg’s Pressure Die Castings
(PDC) is one company that has decided
to take advantage of the benefits of
antimicrobial copper (AMC). Its managing
director, Mike Wolhuter, said that as their
company works with copper and brass,
they were aware of the special properties

of this metal.
“We have an on-site clinic for staff,” he
said, “and we wanted to ensure that there
was no risk of our clinic spreading disease
among staff.”
The clinic serves around 800 employees
from three factories in the area, so the
company had brass sheeting installed on
all work tops, and brass taps (not chromeplated), brass door handles and copper
shower mats were fitted. The company
even changed the clinic’s wooden toilet
seat for a copper one.
Wolhuter says that they did this to
reduce the transfer of viruses and bacteria
from sick workers to clinic staff and other
employees, and he credits this as “one of
the reasons that PDC has a staff attendance
of 98%”
.
PDC’s belief in the powers of AMC is well

A good example of how copper acts on bacteria, fungi, moulds and other microorganisms can be seen on the tiled roof of the theatre of St. Anne’s Diocesan
College for Girls. Beneath the copper steeples, where rainwater runs off, clean
sections of the tiled roof are clearly obvious where the copper has inhibited
the growth of moss and lichen. This quality of copper has also been used in fish
farming in Mozambique, where bio-fouling of fish cages at a tilapia farm was
reducing water flow through the netting, resulting in lower oxygen levels that
affected fish growth and health. Copper resists bio-fouling, and the metal also
doubles as protection from predators at this fish farm. PHOTO: Supplied.
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