Copper Care, Facts & Tarnish

For your amuzment and possible edification, here are my musings about copper and the care thereof.....

I like the theory about the metal being a living thing, the ever changing colors showing it's character. Let it live!


If, after wearing, you give your copper a gentle soap bath, dry thoroughly and store in a plastic zip bag, oxidation will be greatly minimized.

To bring up some shine, give your piece a quick buff with any soft cloth - t-shirt is Nice. If your piece is oxidized, little care is needed, the quick buff will make it gorgeous!

As your copper morphs over time, should you not care for the current color of the piece you choose to wear Today, give it a little bath. *My* favorite method of restoring the raw copper color is a quick dip in lemon juice. Mmmm smells yummy! Easy Peasy! Read on --->>>

The Recipe:
[[[ Memorize this part -- !!! NEVER EVER WALK AWAY FROM THE LEMON JAR UNTIL YOU REMOVE THE JEWELRY!!! Cleaning should take about ONE Minute! ]]]


A small jar with a wide mouth, like a pint canning jar, makes a very nice container for two of those plastic yellow "lemons" found in the produce dept. of most grocery stores. Or use your favorite brand lemon juice.
Optional - Add about one teaspoon of salt to make it work just a bit faster.
Keep it in a convenient cupboard, lid closed tight to prevent evaporation, no need to refrigerate, always ready to be used again.
A dunk of about one or two minutes is usually enough. Rubbing is optional and not usually necessary. If you think you need more shine, try rubbing with additional salt. Love the metal in all it's colors!

Quick dip, quick rinse, pat dry and go on your merry way!

***Rinse well or you will get lovely green in the cracks and crevices, which can be beautiful, but it flakes off.

The metal will start tarnishing again immediately. The atmosphere of the day will determine how quickly. Try a little wax.

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  Thoughts on the use of lacquer/shellac/other clear coatings - EVERYTHING wears off eventually and dealing with the worn mess of lacquer is a royal pain.

Waxes - A few years ago, I did an experiment with Turtle Wax.
I cleaned a few bracelets in lemon/salt and then used Turtle Wax car wax, some of them sat on my table for 6 months or so, awaiting sale and looking fairly decent. They spent Sat/Sun on display, then went into a plastic bag until next weekend.
The Turtle Wax wears off quickly when I wear the jewelry, so it's only a display fix, not a wear-it fix. Apply according to directions on the can - wipe on, wait to dry, wipe off. Pay attention to cracks and crevices. Toothbrush helped.
Major pain to do.

I tried Future Floor Finish on some bracelets. The jewelry got sticky/tacky during wear. Totally unacceptable to me. Lots of drips after dipping, royal pain! Same with any liquid, lacquer or otherwise. Watch out for drips and thick spots. Ugly.

Lacquer - The lacquer used on brass band instruments is also used in the jewelry industry, if you feel obliged to go the lacquer route. Caution, it also wears off, albeit slower, then there are spots darkening and possible peeling. Watch out for ugly drips as it dries. Ewww yuk nasty to undo... I haven't tried lacquer...
 
Oxidizing - I love the look resulting from Perma Blue Liquid Gun Blue, [active ingredient - selenium dioxide, poison if you drink it, keep away from children. Otherwise, not harmful to use. Not much odor. Will NOT blue stainless steel, aluminum or non-ferrous metals] ((More complete directions on my Perma Blue page, see tabs above))


Suggestions from various forums around the net.

Spray lacquer like Krystal Klear or Rustoleum.

Bullseye Clear shellac - spray can.

Renaissance Wax or other micro-crystaline wax.

Butcher's Bowling Alley Wax. 1 lb. cans for about $ 10. used on bronze work, especially sculpture.

Johnson paste wax - several coats.

An elder jeweler shared an old method - Heat the copper to cherry red and quench in oil. She said it brings out all sorts of lovely colors and it's permanent. Forgot to ask what kind of oil.... haven't played with it.....

For verdigris colors - According to a copper verdigris artist, ammonia works OK, but you get the best colors from the cat box, or put the piece in a jar with sawdust wet down with ammonia for a week or two.

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Back to my thoughts.

A word about copper and green skin...
It's a chemistry thing, not an allergy. Allergies turn red, itch and blister. Chemistry is fixable.

I used to turn green when sweaty. It wipes right off. I didn't turn green in air conditioning or in the winter.
In the summer of 2010, I added vitamin D to my regimen. No more green skin. Happy camper! I'm told green skin can also be an iron deficiency, so check your iron. (see this article for relationship of copper and iron deficiency -

http://traceelements.com/Docs/The%20Nutritional%20Relationships%20of%20Copper.pdf )

I know people who never turn green, ever. Personal body chemistry. Think of it as a warning signal, your very own portable medical test - something is not right. Fix your PH balance, find out what's out of sync, you'll probably stop turning green. If not, see your doctor.


From all my note collecting, tarnish and green skin is inevitable unless you are really faithful with your health and diet, and/or maintaining and reapplying some sort of lacquer finish, doesn't really seem to matter much which kind, they all wear off eventually.

Added 2015 ---
Experiment with your vitamin D intake on green days. I've been experimenting and collecting reports from customers and passersby, as well as following reference materials and studies.
In the heat, I turn green under jewelry I wear 24/7 and just as green under the occasional piece. Makes no difference how much or often I wash during that period. But... 
Less than 1 hour after taking a vitamin D, the green stops. During the hottest parts of our sweaty summer, I have to take more in the middle and again later in the day.
Vitamin D can't be patented, so no drug company will pop for the expense of "scientific" testing.
The higher the quality of the Vitamin D, the longer it lasts. Low quality wears off faster.
Experiment, take notes, listen to your body.
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The use of copper in jewelry making is growing exponentially, resulting in the quest for more knowledge about copper in general. Below I have included snips and links to many interesting articles gathered near and far on the big wide web, touching on various aspects of copper. From mining and the making of wire to some of the many and varied health aspects.

As in all jewelry making and wearing, use proper safety procedures, read directions where appropriate and work smart. Most important - have an enjoyable experience and make pretty things!

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Ayurvedic Copper Practice Supported by Superbug Infection Research

Researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina have confirmed that using copper metal surfaces at hospitals significantly reduces hospital-acquired infections. What the study didn't mention was that copper cups and devices have been used for wellness in Ayurveda for thousands of years.

This study, published recently in the Journal of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, studied two types of superbug infections among selected internal care facilities in three hospitals. The researchers tracked infection rates from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) - two of the most hardy and difficult to treat infections known.

The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. The three hospitals tested were the Medical University of South Carolina, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and the Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Charleston, South Carolina.

Over a period of nearly a year, 650 patients were studied. They were placed in 16 hospital ICU rooms – half of which had copper-surfaced objects placed inside. The rooms were tracked for infection rates among the patients....

"Patients cared for in ICU rooms with Copper alloy surfaces had a significantly lower rate of incident Hospital Acquired Infections and/or colonization with MRSA or VRE than did patients treated in standard rooms," the researchers concluded.

According to a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, nearly 100,000 people die a year from hospital-acquired infections.

Another study published last year in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology found that copper alloy surfaces reduced the "microbial burden" – the bacteria counts (colony forming units) found on surfaces - by 83%.

Ayurvedic doctors have known that copper had purifying and anti-infective properties for thousands of years. For this reason, copper cups, plates and tongue cleaners have been used to help maintain wellness.... [more, follow the link]


http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/ayurvedic-copper-practice-supported-superbug-infection-research
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Coppers

The major uses of pure, unalloyed copper are based on its high electrical and thermal conductivity as well its good corrosion resistance. Almost all alloying elements are detrimental to the electrical conductivity of copper, making the purity of the metal an important issue. Commercially pure copper is represented by UNS numbers C10100 to C13000. The various grades of unalloyed copper differ in the amount of impurities and therefore do behave differently. Oxygen free coppers are used in applications requiring high conductivity and exceptional ductility.

click to read more --->> http://www.copper.org/resources/properties/microstructure/coppers.html

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Copper Circuits Help Brain Function; Could Tweaking the Circuits Make Us Smarter?
September 26th, 2006 in Medicine & Health / Research

The flow of copper in the brain has a previously unrecognized role in cell death, learning and memory, according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers' findings suggest that copper and its transporter, a protein called Atp7a, are vital to human thinking. They speculate that variations in the genes coding for Atp7a, as well as other proteins of copper homeostasis, could partially account for differences in thinking among individuals.

click to read more --->> http://www.physorg.com/news78476785.html

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Scientists Find Key to Copper Absorption, Essential to Life
Published September 05, 2006 in General Science > Medicine & Health

Humans, animals and plants require copper to live, and scientists have now discovered how cells absorb this mineral that fuels the brain, heart and other vital organs.

Knowing how copper enters cells could prove essential to treating copper deficiencies in humans, said the scientists from Duke University Medical Center who made the discovery. People derive copper exclusively from their diet. The mineral is found abundantly in shellfish, legumes, red wine, nuts, seeds and chocolate, among other sources.

Although too much copper is toxic, copper deficiencies in adults can trigger brain deficits, heart enlargement, visual impairment, anemia (low iron), skin and hair breakdown and other organ damage. *snip*

click to read more --->> http://www.physorg.com/news76691960.html

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Copper Compounds

It is worth noting that copper is an indispensable constituent of all living tissues and is essential for the normal growth and well being of plants and animals. Where it is lacking it has to be supplied. The minute quantities of copper needed for human health are usually obtained through the normal intake of food and water.

Copper and its compounds are not toxic like some other metals, such as lead or mercury. There are no records of any occupational diseases attributable to copper among people who have worked for many years with the metal or its salts. Indeed it has sometimes been said that such people often appear healthier and generally suffer less from colds and other ailments. Copper bangles and other adornments are reputed to relieve and prevent rheumatic pains. Copper water storage vessels, copper kettles and copper cooking pans have been used for generations.

To trace the history of copper compounds it would be necessary to go back much further than the fourth millennium BC. Records found in the tombs of the early Egyptians suggest that, at least, this ancient civilization employed copper sulphate as a mordant in their dyeing process. Today, more than 5,000 years later, copper sulphate is still employed by the world's dyeing industry in the after treatment of certain dyes to improve their fastness to light and washing.

Another equally early recorded use for copper compounds was for the making of ointments and other medical preparations.

click to read more --->> http://www.copper.org/applications/compounds/homepage.html

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Researchers at Southampton University - http://www.soton.ac.uk/ - have established that copper surfaces can inactivate the virulent hospital superbug Clostridium difficile.
Published: 28 March 2008

C. difficile forms spores which are resistant to a range of disinfectants, including alcohol gel, which is recommended for routine use in hospitals. These spores can live in the environment for a long time and are rapidly becoming a major cause of hospital acquired infections.

Lead researcher Prof Keevil said that the new findings are particularly significant. 'We've already shown that copper surfaces can inactivate MRSA microbes. The fact that we've now established that copper also inactivates C. difficile spores, which are resistant to standard cleaning regimes, doubles our conviction that copper can play a significant role in helping hospitals to fight against infections,' he said.

click to read more --->> http://www.cupron.com/Cupron-News-Antimicrobial/

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U.S. EPA Approves Registration of Antimicrobial Copper Alloys March 25, 2008 NEW YORK-

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the registration of antimicrobial copper alloys, with public health claims. These public health claims acknowledge that copper, brass and bronze are capable of killing harmful, potentially deadly bacteria. Copper is the first solid surface material to receive this type of EPA registration, which is supported by extensive antimicrobial efficacy testing.

click to read more --->> http://www.copper.org/about/pressreleases/2008/pr2008_March_25.html

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Copper's antimicrobial properties have been known for more than five millennia. The ancient Egyptians used copper pipes to transport water to destroy parasites and other water-borne pathogens. Shipbuilders have used copper for thousands of years to keep algae from encrusting on the hulls of ships. French vintners have used a copper sulfate compound to fight fungus on grapevines for hundreds of years.

click to read more --->> http://www.cupron.com/Cupron-Technology-Antimicrobial/

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Could a bit of copper cut back on infections in hospitals?

Health Hannah Bloch · NPR · Dec 15, 2014

snipp "Copper definitely wipes out microbes. "Bacteria, yeasts and viruses are rapidly killed on metallic copper surfaces, and the term "contact killing" has been coined for this process," wrote the authors of an article on copper in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. That knowledge has been around a very long time. The journal article cites an Egyptian medical text, written around 2600-2000 B.C., that cites the use of copper to sterilize chest wounds and drinking water."
"Correa's startup, Copper BioHealth, has not yet assessed the railings' impact in Chilean hospitals. But a study of the effects of copper-alloy surfaces in U.S. hospitals' intensive care units, published last year in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, showed promising results: Their presence reduced the number of healthcare-acquired infections from 8.1 percent in regular rooms to 3.4 percent in the copper rooms."
click to read more --->>> http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/12/16/npr-copper-bedrail-hospital-infections
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 Vitamin D Improves Mood, Cognition, and Pain Tolerance

Without the sunshine vitamin, few of us would experience lives free of disease. Two new studies show that increased levels of vitamin D not only reduce the risk of developing cognitive impairments, but also improve widespread chronic pain.

For the past several years, there has been considerable interest in the role vitamin D plays in improving health and preventing disease. Previous finding show that low levels of vitamin D have been directly associated with various forms of cancer and cardiovascular disease.
A new study, published in Journal of Parkinson’s Disease, examined the relationship between serum vitamin D and neuropsychiatric function in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) – finding that increased levels of the sunshine vitamin are linked to improved mood and may reduce the risk of developing cognitive impairments.
Led by Dr Amie L. Peterson from the Oregon Health and Sciences University in the US, the team conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 286 patients with PD which indicated that higher serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were associated with lower symptom severity, better cognition, and less depression in the entire group, but the relationships were even stronger in those who were not demented.
“About 30% of persons with PD suffer from cognitive impairment and dementia, and dementia is associated with nursing home placement and shortened life expectancy,” explained Peterson. “We know mild cognitive impairment may predict the future development of dementia.”
“Intervening in the development of dementia has the potential to improve morbidity and mortality in persons with PD.”
Significant negative associations were found between vitamin D levels and disease severity, as measured both by the Hoehn and Yahr Scale and the United Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale motor section.
A significant negative association was also found for vitamin D levels and depression, as measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale, for both the entire group and those who were not demented, the team added.
These negative associations are suggestive of correlations between decreased Vitamin D levels and both depression and cognitive impairment.
Chronic Pain and Fatigue
According to a press release issued by Elsevier Health Sciences, patients with fibromyalgia syndrome typically have widespread chronic pain and fatigue. For those with low vitamin D levels, vitamin D supplements can reduce pain and may be a cost-effective alternative or adjunct to other treatment, say researchers in the current issue of PAIN.
In addition to pain and fatigue, individuals diagnosed with fibromyalgia (FMS) may experience sleep disorders, morning stiffness, poor concentration, and occasionally mild-to-severe mental symptoms such as anxiety or depression.
Calcifediol (also known as calcidiol, 25-hydroxycholecalciferol, or 25-hydroxyvitamin D (OH)D) is a prehormone produced in the liver by the enzyme cholecalciferol (vitamin D3). Calcifediol is then converted to calcitriol (1,25-(OH)2D3), which is the active form of vitamin D. The concentration of calcifediol in blood is considered the best indicator of vitamin D status.
Researchers hypothesized that vitamin D supplementation would reduce the degree of chronic pain experienced by FMS patients with low levels of calcifediol and also might improve other symptoms. “Low blood levels of calcifediol are especially common in patients with severe pain and fibromyalgia. But although the role of calcifediol in the perception of chronic pain is a widely discussed subject, we lack clear evidence of the role of vitamin D supplementation in fibromyalgia patients,” says lead investigator Florian Wepner, MD, of the Department of Orthopaedic Pain Management, Spine Unit, Orthopaedic Hospital, Speising, Vienna, Austria. “We therefore set out to determine whether raising the calcifediol levels in these patients would alleviate pain and cause a general improvement in concomitant disorders.”
In a randomized controlled trial, 30 women with FMS with low serum calcifediol levels (below 32ng/ml) were randomized to a treatment or control group. The goal for the treatment group was to achieve serum calcifediol levels between 32 and 48ng/ml for 20 weeks via oral cholecalciferol supplements. Serum calcifediol levels were reevaluated after five and 13 weeks, and the dose was reviewed based on the results. The calcifediol levels were measured again 25 weeks after the start of the supplementation, at which time treatment was discontinued, and after a further 24 weeks without supplementation.
Twenty-four weeks after supplementation was stopped, a marked reduction in the level of perceived pain occurred in the treatment group. Between the first and the 25th week on supplementation, the treatment group improved significantly on a scale of physical role functioning, while the placebo group remained unchanged. The treatment group also scored significantly better on a Fibromalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) on the question of “morning fatigue.” However, there were no significant alterations in depression or anxiety symptoms.
“We believe that the data presented in the present study are promising. FMS is a very extensive symptom complex that cannot be explained by a vitamin D deficiency alone. However, vitamin D supplementation may be regarded as a relatively safe and economical treatment for FMS patients and an extremely cost-effective alternative or adjunct to expensive pharmacological treatment as well as physical, behavioral, and multimodal therapies,” says Wepner. “Vitamin D levels should be monitored regularly in FMS patients, especially in the winter season, and raised appropriately.”
Source: PreventDisease

click to read from source --->>
http://www.naturalcuresnotmedicine.com/2014/01/vitamin-d-improves-mood-cognition-pain-tolerance.html
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Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine Vol. 4, No. 2, 1989
  The Nutritional Relationships of Copper
David L. Watts, D.C., Ph.D., F.A.C.E.P.
 Introduction
The mineral copper w as shown to be an essential nutrient for hemoglobin synthesis in animals in 1928. The therapeutic use of copper and its requirements in humans was later reported by Mills and others. Copper has since been found to be a constituent of many important enzymes including cytochrome c oxidase, superoxide dismu tase (cytoplasm), Ceruloplasmin, dopamin e B-hydroxylase, lysyl oxidase, tyrosinase, and m onoamine oxidase.
The copper content of a healthy adult has been reported to be approximately eighty milligrams. The highest level of copper is found in the liver and brain, followed by the heart, kidney, pancreas, spleen, lungs, bone, and muscle.
 ..... snip
Conditions Associated with Copper Imbalance
One of the earliest conditions found to be associated with copper deficiency is iron deficiency anemia, which could only be corrected with copper supplementation. Copper deficiency impairs iron absorption, reduces heme synthesis, and increases iron accumulation in storage tissues. These processes are dependent upon copper through the effects of the copper enzyme Ceruloplasmin. A chronic copper deficiency can result in hemosiderosis, a condition characterized by an increase in iron accumulation in body tissues due to an impairment in the reutilization of hemoglobin iron. Hemosiderosis is known to occur in malignancies, inflammatory disorders, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Arthritis and Copper
Iron accumulation in the joints due to copper deficiency can be a major contributor to rheumatoid arthritis. Studies reported by Kishore etal illustrated the relationship of copper deficiency and arthritis in animal studies. Adjuvant arthritis was more severe in animals on a copper deficient diet, and the tissue iron levels were found to be over four hundred percent of normal. It has been stated that rheumatoid arthritis has become prevalent within the past century due to industriali ation, i.e. the increased production and use of copper antagonists such as cadmium, zinc, lead, etc. Rainsford hypothesized that the low incidence of rheumatoid arthritis in Europe during pre-industrial times may have been due to the protection by copper commonly used in cooking and eating utensils of the period. TMA studies of patients with rheumatoid arthritis almost always reveal a low tissue copper level. The more chronic cases show high iron/copper ratios. An elevated tissue iron/copper ratio can also indicate a chronic bacterial infection. Rheumatoid arthritis can be secondary to and sometimes caused by an infectious agent resulting in copper depletion or a disturbance in copper balance. It is also well known that spontaneous remission of rheumatoid arthritis occurs in conditions associated with increased copper retention such as pregnancy and biliary obstruction.  

An Australian study (Walker, et al) demonstrated improvement of symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis by absorption of copper through the skin from the wearing of copper bracelets. TMA studies clearly show that individuals with some forms of rheumatoid arthritis, have increased copper requirements. However, TMA studies have revealed that tissue copper levels are above normal in patients with osteoarthritis. This can be explained by the calcium-copper-vitamin D relationship discussed later.
.......
Read much more on the site ----
http://traceelements.com/Docs/The%20Nutritional%20Relationships%20of%20Copper.pdf





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More articles not quoted

Copper In Human Health
http://www.copper.org/health/papers/cu_health_uk/cu_health_uk.html

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Med Hypotheses. 2008;70(3):610-3. Epub 2007 Aug 6.
Could chronic wounds not heal due to too low local copper levels? Borkow G, Gabbay J, Zatcoff RC.
Summary
Copper is an essential trace element involved in numerous human physiological and metabolic processes. It plays a key role in many of the processes that together comprise wound healing, including induction of endothelial growth factor, angiogenesis and expression and stabilization of extracellular skin proteins. We hypothesize that in individuals with diabetic ulcers, decubitus, peripheral vascular, or other wounds which might have compromised circulation to the wound site, that part of the incapacity of the wounds to heal is due to low local copper levels. Contamination of wounds is also an important factor causing impaired wound healing. Importantly, copper has potent broad biocidal properties. In contrast, the risk of adverse skin reactions due to exposure to copper is extremely low. We thus hypothesize that introducing copper into wound dressings would not only reduce the risk of wound and dressing contamination, as silver does but, more importantly, would stimulate faster wound repair directly. This would be done by the release of copper from the wound dressings directly into the wound site inducing angiogenesis and skin regeneration.

http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/S0306-9877%2807%2900412-4/abstract

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Copper door handles and taps kill 95% of superbugs in hospitals
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1081359/Copper-door-handles-taps-kill-95-superbugs-hospitals.html

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Reference Materials PEER-REVIEWED PAPERS
http://www.cupron.com/Cupron-Reference-Materials/

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August 14, 2008 Cupron Delivers Copper-Based Technology Products from Israel and North Carolina
https://www.aiccse.org/Newsletter/NewsletterPreview.aspx?NewsletterID=68

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Copper Production from Ore to Finished Product

4b. Smelting
Several stages of melting and purifying the copper content result, successively, in matte, blister and, finally, 99% pure copper. Recycled copper begins its journey to finding another use by being resmelted.

5b. Electrolytic Refining
Anodes cast from the nearly pure copper are immersed in an acid bath. Pure copper ions migrate electrolytically from the anodes to "starter sheets" made from pure copper foil where they deposit and build up into a 300-pound cathode. Gold, silver and platinum may be recovered from the used bath.

6. Pure Copper Cathodes
Cathodes of 99.9% purity may be shipped as melting stock to mills or foundries. Cathodes may also be cast into wire rod, billets, cakes or ingots, generally, as pure copper or alloyed with other metals.

7. Cathode is converted into:
* Wire Rod - Coiled rod about 1/2" in diameter is drawn down by wire mills to make pure copper wire of all gages.

click to read more --->> http://www.copper.org/education/production.html

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