Bouma, CarolynBouma, Carolyn2023-11-092023-11-092023-08August 202August 202https://hdl.handle.net/11310/5903Microbial resistance to traditional antibiotics and household cleaning chemicals is an increasing problem in today’s climate. The world was recently in a global pandemic, and alternative techniques and products that can kill microbial organisms are now in high demand. One new product is Copper Clean™, an EPA approved antimicrobial surface patch intended for use on high-contact surfaces. Copper Clean’s™ alloy is a patent-pending technology that contains >90% Copper by weight, produced by Buffalo Technology Group. Our objective was to test Copper Clean’s™ ability to kill representative organisms from the human microbiome and environment using a time-kill assay. Seven organisms were used, including Gram-positive (Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus mutans, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus megaterium) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Salmonella enterica). We observed a ≥5-log reduction of Staphylococcus epidermidis, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, and Escherichia coli after 2-3 hours of contact with Copper Clean™ in an aqueous environment when compared to our control. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of Copper Clean™ against representative environmental and human microbiome organisms.application/pdfEnglishBiology, MicrobiologyBiology, GeneralCopper CleanTime-kill assayAntimicrobial surface patchThesis2023-11-09