Copper Masks

Date: 08.05.2020

When the Chilean Luz Briceño left fashion design in recent years, she began to investigate how she could produce textiles that had antibacterial properties when made with copper.

How long does the coronavirus survive on different surfaces? He partnered with a commercial engineer, Soledad Silva, and Rocío Cassis, who oversees production and has experience with textiles.

They created a company called The Copper Company. Before the arrival of the new coronavirus, Briceño says they were focusing on creating antibacterial textiles for use in operating rooms.

But with the pandemic, they turned their attention to the most urgent and began to manufacture masks with fabrics made with copper nanoparticles, an initiative that other Chilean companies that work with copper have also undertaken in the country that produces the most this mineral in the world.

"Copper has the benefit of being antimicrobial and there are many studies going around that indicate that a respiratory microorganism or virus dies within four hours on a copper surface," Briceño tells BBC Mundo.

How the coronavirus will affect the most indebted countries in Latin America and where they can get money to finance the fight against the pandemic The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the covid-19 disease, can maintain its infectious power for hours and even days, depending on the material in which it is found, according to the results of research carried out by the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States, the University of California at Los Angeles and Princeton University.

The virus survived and retained its infectious capacity in copper for just four hours, while in stainless steel and plastic it did so for three days.