Copper - Bronze bathroom Furniture

Because of its distinctive colour, easy workability and existence as its native state on the ground, Copper is serving one of the most important and useful materials in history. Copper leaded a change in human development and prepared the conditions of a change from Stone Age to a preliminary modern way of life; Bronze Age.

Copper is in use of human beings since year 8000 B.C. First it was used as its natural oxidized state, as a replacement of stone. Ancient Egyptians developed a method of tempering the natural copper and this was the spark of copper metallurgy (4000 B.C.). Ancient Egyptians also developed a method of reduction by using charcoal and fire. In the following centuries they became able to alloy copper with tin and obtain Bronze. Around 2500 B.C., the discovery of useful properties of copper-tin alloys led to the Bronze Age.

Homer, following the Greek practice of around 1000 B.C., called the metal Chalkos. This is why the Copper (Bronze) Age is also known as the Chalcolithic Era.

Because of its distinctive colour, easy workability and existence as its native state on the ground, Copper is serving one of the most important and useful materials in history. Copper leaded a change in human development and prepared the conditions of a change from Stone Age to a preliminary modern way of life; Bronze Age. Copper is in use of human beings since year 8000 B.C. First it was used as its natural oxidized state, as a replacement of stone. Ancient Egyptians developed a method of tempering the natural copper and this was the spark of copper metallurgy (4000 B.C.). Ancient Egyptians also developed a method of reduction by using charcoal and fire. In the following centuries they became able to alloy copper with tin and obtain Bronze. Around 2500 B.C., the discovery of useful properties of copper-tin alloys led to the Bronze Age. Homer, following the Greek practice of around 1000 B.C., called the metal Chalkos. This is why the Copper (Bronze) Age is also known as the Chalcolithic Era.
The Ankh Symbol ♀	The Ankh Symbol ♀ The Ancient Egyptians used the “ankh symbol” to denote copper in their system of hieroglyphs. The Ankh is defined as: The symbolic representation of both Physical and Eternal life. It is known as the original cross, which is a powerful symbol that was first created by Africans in Ancient Egypt. The Ankh is commonly known to mean 'life' in the language of Ancient Kemet (land of the Blacks) renamed Egypt by the Greeks. It is also a symbol for the power to give and sustain life, the Ankh is typically associated with material things such as water (which was believed by Egyptians to regenerate life), air, sun, as well as with the Gods, who are frequently pictured carrying an Ankh. Egyptian gods carried the ankh by the loop, or held one in each hand crossed over their breast. Latinists interpreted the symbol as a crux ansata, "cross with a handle" Because of its powerful appeal, the Ankh was used in various religious and cultural rituals involving royalty. In the Treasures of Tutankhamen, the Ankh was a major artifact found in the tomb. The circle symbolizes eternal life and the cross below it represents the material plane. As a symbol for the power to give and sustain life, the ankh is typically associated with material things such as water, air or sun. As the Christian era eclipsed Egypt's pharaonic pagan religion, the sign was adapted by the Coptic Church as their unique form of a cross, known as the crux ansata. A similar symbol was used to represent the Roman goddess Venus. This symbol, known benignly as Venus' hand-mirror, is much more associated with a representation of the female womb. In astrology the same symbol is used to represent the planet Venus, in alchemy to represent the element copper, and in biology to identify the female sex.
Copper and health...
Copper is a natural element that is an essential micronutrient to ensure the well being of all aerobic life forms. It plays a vital part in the development and performance of the human nervous and cardiovascular systems, as well as the skin, bone, immune and reproductive systems, including gene transcription. Copper can also inhibit the growth of microbes, thus providing a measure of protection against harmful germs and bacteria in many environments. Copper has the unique characteristic of being a naturally antibacterial material. This hygienic aspect of copper is very well known and explains many of copper's other uses, such as doorknobs and handles in antiseptic environments like hospitals. Several scientists performed tests and concluded that copper has a inhibiting affect on many forms of bacteria. According to a study on Copper Alloys for Human Infectious Disease Control by S.A. Wilks, J.O. Noyce, and C.W. Keevil, several bacteria, known to be human pathogens, die when placed on copper alloy surfaces. The concentration of live bacteria drops from several orders of magnitude to zero on copper alloys in a few hours. In marked contrast, no reduction is seen in the concentration of live organisms on stainless steel during the six-hour test period. ⁽²⁾ The study results suggest the selection of copper alloys for surfaces exposed to human touch or food contact. Using copper alloys in this manner can materially assist in reducing the transmission of potentially infectious organisms. Another study on the “Effects of Copper Alloy Surfaces on the Viability of Bacterium” by Sandra A. Wilks, and C. William Keevil, suggested that the bacterium E. coli O157:H7 was found to be nonviable in a few hours when placed on copper surfaces, but survived for many days on stainless steel. The copper alloys tested included coppers, brasses, bronzes, copper-nickels and nickel silvers. The results confirm that the antibacterial effect is present in all the tested copper alloys, and increases with the copper content of the alloy. ⁽³⁾ In contrast to the copper alloys, the stainless steel, UNS S30400, a popular material for food processing equipment, has little or no inhibition effect. Its bacteria count is sustained at about 1E+08 through 270 minutes, which is not much lower than that found on polyethylene. During the first two days of 28-day exposure, alloy UNS S30400 shows a five log drop in bacteria count, to a little above 1E+04 and remained at that level for the 28 days. ⁽³⁾

(1) Mariann Sundberg, Director of the Scandinavian Copper Development Association. Actively involved in the development of the copper alloy, 'Nordic Gold' used in the new Euro 10, 20, 50 cent coins introduced in January 2002 (2) S.A. Wilks, J.O. Noyce, and C.W. Keevil, University of Southampton, School of Biological Sciences, Environmental Healthcare Unit, UK (www.cda.org) Presented at Materials Science and Technology Conference September 25-28, 2005, Pittsburgh, PA Copper for the 21st Century Symposium (3) Sandra A. Wilks, and C. William Keevil, University of Southampton, School of Biological Sciences , Environmental Healthcare Unit, UK (www.cda.org) Hygenic Coatings & Surfaces 26-28 January, 2004 Conference Papers