Human Coronavirus 229E Remains Infectious on Common Touch Surface Materials

Warnes, Sarah L.; Little, Zoë R.; Keevil, C. William

Inoculation of coronavirus in the presence of D-mannitol and Tiron (4,5-dihydroxy-1,3-benzene disulfonic acid) to quench hydroxyl radicals and superoxide anions, respectively, was done to determine if these moieties were involved in the coronavirus inactivation mechanism ( Fig. 4B and D) . Tiron protected the virus for the first hour of contact, suggesting that superoxide generation is important. However, D-mannitol was minimally protective on copper but protected the virus for the duration of the test on brass. Increasing the concentration of D-mannitol did not prolong survival of infectivity on copper (not shown). This suggests that rapid inactivation of coronavirus on copper surfaces is primarily due to copper ion release and that the effect of reactive oxygen species is minimal. However, as the percentage of copper in the alloy decreased, ROS generation played a more significant role.