China. Copper air conditioning systems have been installed on Public Service Buses in Shanghai, due to the characteristics against bacteria, fungi and viruses that this material possesses.
The copper that is being used in these systems is of Chilean origin, material that has been tested to eliminate disease-generating agents. Because their surface is cleaner, the systems allow to eliminate the creation of all kinds of bacteria, which can contribute to air quality.
The Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted studies in which it found that the microbial levels of systems using copper were lower than those of aluminum. In the United States, the microbiology and immunology department at the Medical University of South Carolina also conducted a similar study.
The U.S. campus team found that aluminum components developed stable biofilms of bacteria and fungi during four weeks of operations, while copper managed to limit bacterial load by 99.99% and fungal load by 99.74%.
