Brass, not plastic can save your life

Storing water for two days in brass utensils could be a simple solution to prevent millions of deaths from deadly water-borne diseases.

Storing water for two days in brass utensils could be a simple solution to prevent millions of deaths from deadly water-borne diseases.

According to a recent study published by Nature, the use of plastic-manufactured items should be discouraged and replaced with brass utensils to counteract this major threat, mostly faced in the developing world.

"The problem of water -purification persists even in places with basic water-purification systems, people often use water from riskier wells under trees because the water is cooler," claims Rob Reed, the lead author who led the study.

On a recent trip to India, Reed, a microbiologist at Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, discovered the age-old practice of using brass water containers to prevent illness.

Reed and his colleagues Puja Tandon and Sanjay Chhibber conducted experiments and found that the frequency of bacteria thriving in brass pots is lesser than in plastic ones.

"It's one of the traditional ideas of water treatment and we were able to find a microbiological basis for it," he says.

The key element is copper which acts by interfering with the membranes and enzymes of cells, eventually killing the bacteria. Pots made of brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, shed copper particles into the water they contain. Plastic, on the other hand, cannot deactivate bacteria.

But still many people in developing nations prefer plastic as its modern.

"Brass is an order of magnitude more expensive. People are switching to plastic because it's cheaper," Reed explained, but added that he was hopeful that the disease-fighting properties of brass containers would convince people to switch back to the traditional ware.