By Kayla Goldberg

Gold may be the most valuable metal in terms of wealth, but antimicrobial copper is certainly the most valuable in terms of health. The first people to use copper in medicine were the Egyptians, sometime between 2600 and 2200 BC. According to The Balance, the Egyptians used the metal mostly to treat chest wounds and to purify drinking water, but the natural metal is also a natural germ- and bacteria-fighter.

Now, it’s Scottsdale’s StayWell Copper’s mission to bring the medical benefits of 100% pure antimicrobial copper into daily life and to make the world a healthier, safer place.

GERMS! They’re Everywhere

         It’s no secret that the modern world is full of germs, especially places such as schools and hospitals. With the next school year just beginning, awareness of how to best fight these germs is crucial. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average American child suffers through approximately 10 colds a year, likely because their immune systems are less mature than adults, and due to the fact that while in school, they are in close contact with one another and harmful germs.

Adults, of course, get sick too. In fact, American adults average about three colds per year. Some of these germs may be being passed around as a result of the fact that, according to Business Insider, the average adult touches their phone 2,600 times a day—and these phones have more than 18 times more germs than a public bathroom, according to Time.

Because these germs are near our hands, eyes, nose and lips, phones make it very easy for germs to get us sick.

Laptop computers—another device that most adults use every day—have 20,000 times more germs than the most contaminated toilet seat.

Furthermore, health care institutions such as hospitals also, unsurprisingly, contain a large number of germs that can easily be transferred from one surface to another from a single contaminated hand. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that seven million people a year are impacted by health care associated infections, with 99,000 Americans and 37,000 Europeans dying due to these infections.

Eliminating Germs?

The modern world isn’t going to get rid of schools, smartphones, laptops or hospitals anytime soon, but StayWell Copper may be the key to decreasing—or even eliminating—the germs contaminating them.

         Researchers at the University of Southampton have found that over 100 potentially harmful pathogens are killed or inactivated by copper. This includes common viruses such as those that cause colds and the flu. In fact, the researchers have yet to find a micro-organism that is not either killed or inactivated by copper.

StayWell’s Germ-free Solution

As a result of this information, StayWell Copper created products that allow its customers to utilize the benefits of copper to make their daily lives healthier. To control the germs we’re exposed to through our smartphones, StayWell has created an affordable copper phone patch that attaches to the back of a phone, thus allowing users to continue to use their phones as usual, but without having to worry about being exposed to germs.

For laptops, they’ve created a germ-killing patch that can be placed on a keyboard to touch after a user has used their laptop.

They also make a roller to use between your fingers and hands, a pendant necklace, a purse charm, and a key fob. The rollers can easily be attached to backpacks to help prevent kids from getting sick at school, and can also be put inside a person’s nostrils to kill any of the germs inside. In a completed study, those who did this once in the morning and once at night reported not getting any colds for 30 months!

         At least 15 hospitals in America are now attempting to find ways to implement copper in their buildings to help prevent the spread of germs. On more common surfaces such as stainless steel or plastic, germs can survive for months. However, in an experiment done at Southampton University, all of the germs were dead within eight minutes on a copper surface. Thus, implementing copper surfaces in hospitals and schools could drastically decrease the spread of germs.

These studies show just how efficient copper is at killing germs, and why StayWell’s ability to implement this efficiency into daily life is so extraordinary.

The Product

StayWell’s products are also 100% EPA-approved, are proven to kill more than 99.7% of bacteria, are natural, chemical-free, have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and are made by veterans in the United States. The products range between $18-$30, and their efficiency never expires.

For more information or to purchase any of the products, visit staywellcopper.com

Kayla Goldberg is an editorial intern at Green Living Magazine. She is currently studying English at Loyola Marymount University and in her free time she enjoys reading, working out, and drinking coffee.