For the first time ever, the EPA has officially allowed health claims to be associated with a solid antimicrobial material, as opposed to the standard liquid and aerosol forms that disinfectants usually assume.

What does this mean? Mostly just that we might start seeing a lot more copper in hospitals, schools, and possibly other public spaces where germs are rampant.

Because copper is a relatively soft metal that can be easily tarnished, copper alloys, such as brass and bronze, which yield the same benefits, might find themselves in higher demand as well.

This inspires a simple question: Is this a good thing? Obviously it's helpful to have an anti-septic hospital, and copper fixtures might be a boon to that effort. But what happens if we start using the stuff for everything, much like anti-bacterial soap rapidly became the standard in domestic bar, dish, and shower soaps?

It's a common theory that we're destroying our natural immune systems in this rush to sanitize the world around us. Indeed, it was the subject of Todd Haynes' first film, Safe, a poignant portrayal of one woman's development of MCS, or "Multiple Chemical Sensitivity" -- aka the "20th Century Disease."

No wonder Americans so often get sick when they travel abroad, particularly to countries in Africa and Asia. Maybe it's not that those places are too dirty; maybe it's because we're simply too weak.