为什么铜能杀死超级细菌(和普通细菌)

为什么铜能杀死超级细菌(和普通细菌)

Copper's health benefits have been known for ages — literally.

铜的健康益处早已为人所知。

One of the oldest medical books in the world, the 5,000-year-old Smith Papyrus, details how copper was used in ancient Egypt to sterilize both water and directly treat injuries. Thousands of years later, Hippocrates' texts suggested powdered copper be used to prevent infection of burns and other wounds, and Roman doctors 2,000 years ago used various types of copper treatments for health issues from mouth ulcers to intestinal worms and venereal disease. The Aztecs, Indians and Persians were all known to use copper to treat health concerns, too.

世界上最古老的医学书籍之一，5000年历史的Smith Papyrus详细描述了古埃及人如何使用铜来消毒和直接治疗伤口。几千年后，希波克拉底的文献建议使用铜粉来防止烧伤和其他伤口的感染，2000年前，罗马医生使用各种铜治疗健康问题，从口腔溃疡到肠蠕虫和性病。众所周知，阿兹特克人、印度人和波斯人也用铜来治疗健康问题。

It's incredibly difficult to properly clean hospital beds, especially as they have become more complex, like the one pictured here. (Photo: Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock)

While germ theory wasn't officially recognized by modern medicine until French scientist Louis Pasteur's work in the early 1860s, we now know that copper's effectiveness is tied to its anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. Obviously, many ancient civilizations had figured this out, even if they didn't understand precisely how copper works.

虽然细菌理论直到19世纪60年代早期法国科学家路易斯·巴斯德的工作才被现代医学正式承认，我们现在知道铜的有效性与它的抗病毒和抗菌特性有关。很明显，许多古代文明已经发现了这一点，即使他们不知道铜是如何工作的。

Which brings us to the present day. While we no longer sprinkle powdered copper oxides on cuts, there are other ways we could use the metal, or its alloys, to keep us healthier.

这就把我们带到了今天。虽然我们不再在伤口上撒铜氧化物粉末，但还有其他方法可以利用这种金属或其合金来保持我们的健康。

Currently, stainless steel or plastics are used for sinks, counters, beds and other surfaces in health care environments, but while stainless steel and plastic are easy to clean (the main reason they're used in such places), it also demonstrably harbors far more bacteria and viruses than a similar copper surface does — and over time, small scratches, dings and holes can hide even more.

目前，不锈钢或塑料用于保健环境中的水槽、计数器、床和其他表面，但不锈钢和塑料易于清洁(主要原因：在这样的地方使用)，它也明显地携带了比类似铜表面更多的细菌和病毒--随着时间的推移，微小的划痕、布丁和洞可以隐藏得更多。

It's especially important that the most dangerous superbugs, responsible for the death and illness of already-sick people, are killed by copper. That includes methicilin-resistant staph (MRSA); other staph bacteria; adenoviruses; the flu virus (all types); and even fungus. In a study published in the International Journal of Food Microbiology, 99.9 percent of E.coli bacteria was killed after an hour on a copper table, whereas it survived for weeks on stainless steel.

尤其重要的是，最危险的超级细菌是由铜杀死的，它们会导致已经患病的人的死亡和疾病。其中包括耐甲氧西林葡萄球菌(MRSA);其他葡萄球菌;腺病毒;流感病毒(所有类型);甚至真菌。在《国际食品微生物学杂志》上发表的一项研究中，99.9%的E大肠杆菌在铜桌子上放置一小时后被杀死，而在不锈钢桌子上存活数周。

Considering that last fact, it seems that copper tables and prep areas in restaurants and food-prep areas would be another place copper could make a dent in keeping the nastiest bugs away from vulnerable people.

考虑到这最后一个事实，在餐馆和食物准备区，铜制的桌子和准备区似乎是另一个地方，铜制的桌子和准备区可以让那些最讨厌的细菌远离那些脆弱的人。

Copper kills the variety of bacteria and viruses that it does because it works on several levels to disable the organisms. It binds to proteins that disrupt the basic function of the cell, it breaks down membranes that cause cell drying and then death, and it causes oxidative stress to any cells it comes into contact with, also destroying them.

铜可以杀死各种各样的细菌和病毒，因为它可以在几个不同的层面上起作用，使微生物失去活性。它会与破坏细胞基本功能的蛋白质结合，它会破坏导致细胞干燥和死亡的细胞膜，它会对任何接触到的细胞造成氧化应激，也会破坏它们。

We're used to seeing copper as a trendy metal in kitchens and bathrooms, or used in pots and pans in kitchens — and using it in these places sure can't hurt. In fact, it would make sense to use copper, especially, in places that see a lot of hands and don't get washed often, like drawer pulls in the kitchen, or bathroom taps.

我们已经习惯了把铜作为一种时髦的金属放在厨房和浴室里，或者放在厨房里的锅碗瓢盆里——在这些地方使用铜肯定没有坏处。事实上，使用铜是有意义的，尤其是在那些经常看到很多人洗手的地方，比如厨房的抽屉拉手，或者浴室的水龙头。

But the material could be used to save lives in far more fraught and dangerous settings, like hospitals, elder-care facilities, and places where the sickest and most vulnerable of us spend time. That's why there are already several hundred patents for health care surfaces and tools made from copper, though a materials transition will take time, especially where health care budgets are stretched thin or otherwise constrained.

但这些材料可以用在更令人担忧和危险的环境中拯救生命，比如医院、老年人护理设施，以及我们中最虚弱和最易患病的人待的地方。这就是为什么已经有几百个由铜制成的医疗表面和工具的专利，尽管材料的转变需要时间，尤其是在医疗预算捉襟见肘或受到其他限制的地方。