Human sweat can reduce the anti-bacterial properties of door knobs and taps in hospitals and schools, according to a recent study.

Researchers from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom found that sweaty hands can reduce the effectiveness of bacteria-fighting brass objects in hospitals and schools after just an hour of coming into contact with them.

Although copper found in everyday brass items such as door handles and water taps has an antimicrobial effect on bacteria and is widely used to prevent the spread of disease, peoples' sweat can produce sufficient corrosion to adversely affect its use to kill a range of microorganisms, according to a press release.

"We have discovered that the salt in sweat corrodes the metal, forming an oxide layer on its surface, which is the process of corrosion -- and this corrosive layer is known to inhibit the effect of the copper," Dr. John Bond, researcher from the University of Leicester's Department of Chemistry, said in a statement. "We have shown that it is possible for sweat to produce an oxide layer on the metal within an hour of contact."

Bond said this is the first study to quantitatively analyze the temporal corrosion of copper alloys such as brass in the first few hours after contact between fingerprint sweat concentrations of salt and the metal.

"Opportunities to improve hospital hygiene are being investigated by the University of Leicester from seemingly un-connected areas of research," Bond said." This research is a different application of the study of fingerprint sweat corrosion of brass, applied to hygiene rather than to crime investigation."

Researchers said people can keep brass in public environments free from corrosion through regular and thorough cleaning.

"In the longer term, using copper alloys with corrosion inhibitors included in the alloy would be a good choice," Bond said.

The findings were recently published in the journal Applied Surface Science.