Project finds eco alternative

A Western Australian initiative to provide environmentally friendly alternatives to toxic chemicals has reached company formation stage, and is now seeking further investment to finalise development of commercially ready products.

The Murdoch Westscheme Enterprise Partnership’s first investment, the Low Impact Biocides project, targets the development of anti-fouling, plant pathogen and human pathogen compounds which are extracted from WA native wetland plants.

The project, which is currently seeking a further $1 million of funding, targets the potential of native plants as a source of natural and synthetic biocidal products, a concept that has remained largely unexplored and virtually un-commercialised.

Murdoch Westscheme Enter-prise Partnership investment manager Dr Howard Carr told WA Business News the biocide would provide an alternative to toxic chemicals in a number of industries, the largest being the anti-fouling paint industry.

“The main ingredient of anti-fouling paint is tributyltin, or TBT,” he said.

“Until now there were no compounds that had the same performance of killing algae, barnacles and other forms of marine organisms on boats like TBT.”

Dr Carr said TBT was to eventually be phased out of anti-fouling paints, providing the LIB project with access to a worldwide market.

TBT has been found to produce deformities in various shellfish such as oysters and sea snails.

Dr Carr said MWEP was in discussions with the pearling industry, which suffers from anti-fouling agents infecting and killing the pearl organism.

The biocide also provides environmentally friendly alter-natives for the agricultural and resources sectors, where it acts as a deterrent against iron reducing bacteria that build up in irrigation pipes and oil and gas pipes.

“The natural produce market is one of the fastest growing new production areas in chemistry, and there is a real trend at present towards cleaner compounds,” said Dr Carr.

“European companies are very committed to these products.

“Ultimately we are aiming to grow the native plants in Western Australia and export the concentrate to global markets. We are currently in talks with the Department of Agriculture to grow the native plants as a crop.”

Dr Carr said the project was currently in co-operation with a local company, Phoenix Paints, which was testing the biocide compounds in anti-fouling paint.

The naturally occurring biocides were discovered by Murdoch environmental micro-biologist, Dr Muriel Lepesteur-Thompson, after observing bioactivity of native vegetation in the field.

The partnership was established in 2004 by Murdoch University and Westscheme in an effort to facilitate and assist researchers develop their innovative ideas into commercial opportunities.

Since its inception, MWEP has reviewed over eighty projects and invested in 12, with 10 sourced from Murdoch University and two from other research institutions.

At present, the partnership has five active projects, including an avian influenza vaccine marker, and a diagnostic test for cryptosporidium and giardia - both sourced through Murdoch. 

The other two active projects are sourced from UWA and include privately owned start-up drug discovery company Dimerix Bioscience Pty Ltd, and tissue repair and regeneration technology company Orthocell Pty Ltd.