Re: Handrails
It's broad-spectrum, too; the antiseptic property of copper and silver is effective against many fungi and viruses. (There are a number of interesting studies readily available online.)
That's why copper strips are sometimes applied to roofs to remove and prevent mildew, for example.
The problem with using copper handrails, of course, is that some asshole will steal them. Copper theft is widespread in the US and I expect it's similar elsewhere. When I had new gutters (eavestroughs) installed some years back, my paint & plaster guy wanted to paint them with a faux copper finish he'd used in some other projects. (The paint contains copper flecks so it even oxidizes appropriately.) I declined, since I knew I'd return from a vacation to find some moron had pulled the aluminum1 gutters down thinking they were copper.
1Sorry, folks, but that's the spelling with better etymological support. See the discussion in Aldersey-Williams, Periodic Tales.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
