coppertalk

Adam Estelle, guest blogger

By Adam Estelle, Copper Development Association, Inc. Project Engineer, Materials Science

Adam Estelle received his bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Arizona.  He joined the CDA in August of 2008 and works primarily on the Public Health Initiative promoting the antimicrobial properties of copper-based metals. 

Of all the exciting opportunities I’ve had with the Copper Development Association (CDA), the Annual Meeting is by far the most intriguing.  Industry giants from across the country gather every December to learn about emerging markets and get the latest news on copper’s role in applications ranging from plumbing to architecture to antimicrobial.  It’s quite inspiring to witness an industry come together as a whole and combine insight and experience to overcome collective challenges.

During December’s meeting, I presented new opportunities brought about by the EPA registration of copper as an antimicrobial and summarized CDA activity in the supply chain.  Ever since the EPA registered copper as an antimicrobial, we’ve been working with members to:

• strengthen awareness of the antimicrobial effort
• provide information about the science behind the EPA registration
• assist with new product development
• bring copper products to market with health claims

Once product manufacturers understand the science behind the antimicrobial message, and the large socioeconomic burden of healthcare-associated infections, they see the potential for copper touch surfaces used in products like door knobs, work stations, hand rails and IV poles.  CDA then points them to our membership to help find a supplier of antimicrobial copper.  As the process evolves, more and more suppliers will register with the EPA so they can market their products with public health claims.  As stewards of the EPA registration, CDA also helps product manufacturers convey the antimicrobial message accurately and responsibly. 

From scientific studies to marketing support, CDA is proactive throughout every step of the exciting process.  The Winter Meeting was a great opportunity to show our membership how we’re helping the pieces come together.  Since December, we’ve received more and more phone calls and emails from fabricators and manufacturers who want to move to the next level. That’s great news, because it will generate business for CDA members and help foster this young market.

By Wilton Moran, Copper Development Association Project Engineer, Material Sciences 

Wilton Moran is a member of CDA’s Technical Services Team, providing direct technical support to copper alloy end-users, and managing critical copper and copper alloy data and property information.  The team also manages other CDA programs, including the Public Health Initiative, which encompasses the registration of copper alloys with the EPA, and other projects that don’t fall under traditional product areas.

For years infection control programs in hospitals, outpatient clinics, long-term care facilities, doctors’ offices and ambulances have employed two main methods to kill bacteria in the environment and reduce their transmission:  hand washing and regular cleaning and disinfection of surfaces.  Now that the Environmental Protection Agency has registered copper and its alloys as antimicrobial touch surfaces, copper has emerged as a strong third weapon to supplement these two traditional infection control practices. 

Many hospital-acquired infections are the result of the transfer of pathogens.  The pathogens can be acquired from frequently-touched surfaces as well as from the patients themselves.  Currently, most hospital touch surfaces are made of stainless steel, aluminum, wood, or plastic, which have no inherent effect in controlling pathogens.  Hand washing and regular surface cleaning are essential, but the addition of touch surfaces that are inherently antimicrobial would make these practices even more effective.  Enter antimicrobial copper alloy surfaces. Think of copper bed rails, door handles, IV poles and more.  In short, if the bacteria* are killed before they get a chance to build up and grow on the surface, there will be less available.  Copper surfaces must be cleaned like any other surfaces, but their use can substantially improve infection control efforts. 

The EPA regulates sanitizers and disinfectants being used in homes, schools, medical facilities, etc.  Just as those products are first tested in the lab, copper has been similarly tested and proven effective*.Copper surfaces should be used to supplement these products, not as a replacement, by killing bacteria* between routine cleaning and disinfection.

By Wilton Moran, Copper Development Association Project Engineer, Material Sciences 

Wilton Moran is a member of CDA’s Technical Services Team, providing direct technical support to copper alloy end-users, and managing critical copper and copper alloy data and property information.  The team also manages other CDA programs, including the Public Health Initiative, which encompasses the registration of copper alloys with the EPA, and other projects that don’t fall under traditional product areas.

When I joined the CDA I pretty much concentrated on the antimicrobial copper project. The EPA’s registration of copper, brass and bronze as antimicrobial materials with public health claims was a breakthrough not only for our industry, but for a variety of industries, especially health care.  But the approval was hardly an overnight process. 

One of the things my team is currently doing is helping copper and copper alloy fabricators and manufacturers of end-use products legally market antimicrobial copper products with public health claims. The EPA is not in the business of helping companies get products to market. They exist to help ensure there’s sound science behind products that make health claims.  The fact that copper and its alloys are solid presented a unique issue for them.  The office within EPA that we are dealing with usually registers other forms of antimicrobial substances, like liquids, gases and powders, but applying the rules to solid materials was a different matter, so a lot of uncharted territory had to be covered. They’re also used to approving a specific amount of an active ingredient, but we registered a range of alloys with 60-99.9% copper.  Our experts worked with the EPA throughout the process, asking questions and helping find precedents for different aspects of our situation.  As a lot of people now know, the process was completed early in 2008 with five EPA registrations for copper and copper alloys. 

There’s nothing more powerful than EPA registration for giving your product credibility. It is also illegal to make public claims without EPA registration.  Six alloy fabricators have already obtained EPA registrations:  PMX Industries, Cerro Flow Products, Revere Copper Products, Brush Wellman, Chase Brass and Copper Company, and Olin Brass.  I’m sure we’ll be seeing more very soon.

By Joe Gorsuch, Copper Development Association Manager of Health & Environmental Sciences

Joe Gorsuch works with environmental regulations and the collection of ecotox data.  For 30 years prior to joining the CDA in March, 2009, he worked with Kodak, conducting environmental effects and fate field and lab studies to register chemicals for the photographic industry.  From 2005 to 2009 he was President and Owner of Gorsuch Environmental Managements Services, Inc. [GEMS, Inc.] coordinating environmental studies.  He holds an undergraduate degree in Wildlife Biology and a master’s degree in Environmental Sciences, focusing on Aquatic Toxicology, both from Purdue University. 

Before I joined the CDA, I led the research program on silver at Kodak.  I was with the company for three decades and had amassed quite a body of work.  The experience and contacts I gained are invaluable, and I’m sure that was one of the reasons I was offered the position at the CDA.  Silver and copper aren’t the same programs, but the science is essentially identical and my background was a great fit. 

This past November, I was proud to receive the 2009 International Imaging Industry Association (I3A) Achievement Award (I3A is the leading global association and an accredited Standards Developing Organization for the imaging industry) for my work at Kodak and as an independent consultant in leading the 16-year silver environmental research program.  Here is a description of the award:

The I3A Achievement Award annually recognizes, encourages and celebrates outstanding accomplishment by an individual who has provided significant contributions to the advancement or growth of the imaging industry, through participation in I3A in either Standards and Initiatives or Advocacy.

It’s rewarding to know that my long career has led to others recognizing me.  I really feel great about it.  But I can’t take all the credit because of course I had colleagues helping me along the way.  Both at Kodak and the CDA, I’ve had the opportunity to work with world-class researchers and government regulatory people, and to build relationships based on mutual trust.  After leaving Kodak, there was kind of a void.  Although I was doing some exciting environmental consulting work, I wasn’t able to keep doing all the work I had been doing previously, in particular coordinating a major research program.  So I was very excited to get this opportunity with the CDA to bring my experience and knowledge to work on copper with some of the researchers I had collaborated with previously.  As I said earlier, the science is essentially identical.  But we’re now doing copper studies that I never had the occasion to do with silver, including marine studies that are far more advanced, in addition to marine sediment studies that I’m helping to coordinate, which is always exciting.  Anytime you get to be a pioneer, it’s exciting.

By Joe Gorsuch, Copper Development Association Manager of Health & Environmental Sciences

Before joining the CDA, I spearheaded the silver program at Kodak, looking at the potential environmental impacts of silver and other metallic compounds.  That’s why, in March of ’09, it was a natural for me to join the CDA and focus on copper.  Our researchers provide a vital service.  We compile a great amount of scientific data on copper and its environmental effects and make it available to stakeholders all over the world.  We provide ecotoxicology data to the scientific community, including regulators, university scientists, and industries interested in its beneficial uses, such as fish farmers.  While copper is not a contaminant like mercury that accumulates in fish, it’s important to maintain levels most beneficial for their growth and development. Manufacturers of copper products often use our data in order to comply with environmental laws and regulations.  Through extensive research and using data on usage that covers centuries, we’ve developed a “copper roof runoff model toolkit” that allows building developers and regulators to establish responsible designs to manage the interaction of copper in general storm water runoff.

Our research data on copper effects on aquatic organisms allow sound science to be used in developing water quality regulations, protecting the environment from potential harm without being unnecessarily burdensome to the regulated community.  The CDA helps people in all industries and all fields of study to make these determinations.  If we all have good scientific information, we can use it to make responsible decisions that benefit our industries and our planet at the same time.

By Joe Gorsuch, Copper Development Association Inc. Manager of Health & Environmental Sciences

Joe Gorsuch works with environmental regulations and the collection of ecotox data.  For 30 years prior to joining the CDA in March, 2009, he worked with Kodak, conducting environmental effects and fate field and lab studies to register chemicals for the photographic industry.  From 2005 to 2009 he was President and Owner of Gorsuch Environmental Managements Services, Inc. [GEMS, Inc.] coordinating environmental studies.  He holds an undergraduate degree in Wildlife Biology and a master’s degree in Environmental Sciences, focusing on Aquatic Toxicology, both from Purdue University. 

You hear a lot these days about harmful substances in our environment.  The field that evaluates the effects of chemical substances in the environment is called environmental toxicology (also called ecotoxicity or ecotox).  Toxicology is the study of the effects of a chemical or a contaminant on an organism, and the “eco” refers to the environment.  Some people assume that any copper in the environment is harmful, probably because of stories about mercury or some pesticides.  So when news gets out there without the proper understanding of the science, it can cause unnecessary alarm. 

Copper itself is not a contaminant.  In fact, it’s essential to many forms of life, like plants, animals and humans, but in certain amounts and in certain circumstances it can be potentially harmful.  That is generally true of everything: too much can be harmful. A good analogy is insulin and the human body.  Everyone needs insulin to function.  But for some people, the wrong amount of insulin can be dangerous.  So for those individuals it’s important to test and monitor insulin levels constantly to maintain optimum levels for health.  It’s the same with copper in the environment.  I coordinate studies that collect ecotox data for the CDA.  The world-class international researchers and I evaluate the bioavailability of copper (“bioavailability” refers to the ability of an organism to absorb it) to aquatic organisms in various environments in order to understand which concentrations under certain circumstances may be harmful and which are harmless.  The form of copper that is considered toxic to plants and aquatic animals is the copper ion, which in natural environments is generally bound to sulfide, chloride or organic matter, rendering it less toxic and less bioavailable.  So knowing the form of copper in the environment is critical when determining the risk it may pose to organisms.

In conducting and evaluating this research, the CDA works collaboratively with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  All the research findings, including the data that may not be viewed as beneficial to us, are summarized and published, and eventually become part of the public domain.  A finding that implies copper may be the cause of a problem is further studied to determine the facts and circumstances or mechanisms, and the results are published. As a father and grandfather, I’m concerned about preserving the environment and health of our ecosystem and community.  I enjoy knowing that my role at the CDA helps make a difference.