An ad from the following website came up on my Facebook feed. I have posed some questions to the manufacturer/seller in Facebook comments and reported it to Facebook as a scam/fraud, but it concerns me that the public may be falling prey to false claims.
My problems with it are:
Where is the evidence that brass kills virus? On the product’s FB page there is a claim that it does, no evidence is supplied. Copper (in brass) inhibits fungal growth and may inhibit some bacteria but I am not aware of it being scientifically proven to kill viruses and especially COVID-19.
If one uses it to protect against a possibly contaminated handle/lift button and then pockets it, there is a risk of transferring the contaminating substance to one’s pocket/bag/wherever it is carried. Much safer to use a disposable tissue then immediately safely dispose of it.
Why carry a large heavy brass object when a standard brass key would function the same?
It concerns me that the public can be fooled into a false sense of security by this sort of misleading advertising. A fool and his money…
An topic on this forum has a link to an article regarding the antimicrobial properties of copper.
However, even if brass is as effective, the prices seem outrageous.
I use the back of my hand to press larger items such as pedestrian crossing buttons at traffic lights and the back of my index finger for smaller things such as the buttons on lifts and the LCD screens at self service supermarket checkouts.
No extra weight, no cost, and easy to clean with sanitizer.
Copper/brass knobs and gadgets have come up before. One problem identified is that even where they have some effect it takes hours, it isn’t like any such object remains sterile.
Wearing disposable gloves is also a possibility. Packs of them are back in stock at most supermarkets and not at out of this world pricing. A bit of hand saniyizer that is at the appropriate range for Alcohol content is also quite possible again as @Fred123 points out. Trouble is some people get sucked in still, Nigerian Money scams anyone?? So Thank you @Guitarfish for taking action and making it more public.
Not a lot? And it still takes hours for the virus to expire on the copper based metal surface.
Washing your hands properly or using hand gel after touching surfaces is more effective.
Many door handles and knobs still need to be grasped after unlocking with a key. A disposable glove is an option. Just consider once a glove or hand or any object has touched an infected surface, it will transfer any virus to every other surface the glove etc contacts.
Exactly! I did raise this (and other salient points) in question form (so as to be nice and not just seem critical) in the comments on the manufacturer’s Facebook advertising page but it must have all been too hard because they deleted my nice questions! There did seem to be a lot of suckers interested in parting with $35 for one…
I did report it to FB as scam/fraud but doubt very much they can do anything. Also had a look at the ACCC complaints page but it doesn’t seem to fit there either. I guess if someone is silly enough to part with their money for rubbish, that’s their choice, but it’s a shame a company can exploit fears around COVID-19 in such a way that could potentially contribute to spreading the infection rather than containing it.
Inherently antimicrobial…Viruses & bacteria survive on brass for minutes vs. several days on other hard surfaces.
It is about 2 hours (or even 4 hours) and not minutes. If one believes it is minutes, it may increase their risk of infection with COVID if the device becomes contaminated with the virus. It may give purchasers a false sense of security, which may not be the case.
It appears this particular company may be exploiting the fear of COVID for their own benefit (profits), by making unrealistic claims.
Unfortunately there will always be people only too willing to divest others of their hard earned, and even more disappointing, there are those who will hand it over.
Brass was identified early as a non-carrier of germs, but no it cant kill them!
I wondered about some of the purposes for it, sometimes actual fingers are needed.
The early posts in this topic suggest germs - EG Covid-19 Virus, can exist and be found on metal surfaces. The virus ultimately needs a host to survive and replicate. With copper or high copper alloys, scientific observation determined [Covid-19 did not survive for as long (Hours) compared to other surfaces, EG bright stainless steel (Up to 48hrs).
Thank you! Now if someone would just inform the manufacturer that they are making false claims, and post the link you included to the NYT article on their FB page (I am blocked from doing so!) then the world would be a tiny bit better and safer place…
