Copper as an antibacterial material in different facilities.

The present study was performed in real life settings in different facilities (hospital, kindergarten, retirement home, office building) with copper and copper alloy touch surface products (floor drain lids, toilet flush buttons, door handles, light switches, closet touch surfaces, corridor hand rails, front door handles and toilet support rails) in parallel to reference products. Pure copper surfaces supported lower total bacterial counts (1645 vs 105 +/- 430CFUcm(-2), n=214, P<0001) and a lower occurrence of Staphylococcus aureus (26 vs 14%, n=157, P<001) and Gram-negatives (21 vs 34%, n=214, P<005) respectively than did reference surfaces, whereas the occurrence of enterococci (15%, n=214, P>005) was similar. The studied products could be assigned to three categories according to their bacterial loads as follows (P<0001): floor drain lids (300 +/- 730CFUcm(-2), n=32), small area touch surfaces (80 +/- 71 to 62 +/- 160CFUcm(-2), n=90) and large area touch surfaces (11 +/- 11 to 17 +/- 24CFUcm(-2), n=92). In conclusion, copper touch surface products can function as antibacterial materials to reduce the bacterial load, especially on frequently touched small surfaces.