Chula Pharmaceutical Sciences Unveils New Innovation – PM2.5 Dust Fighting Spray

The Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences researchers have successfully developed “PhytFoon”, a spray compound to deal with the PM 2.5 dust particles, which have become an annual plague that hinders the air quality and health of Thai people.  The Dust Fighting Spray works by trapping the PM 2.5 dust particles suspended in the air and then weighing them down to the ground.  The compound will be launched to the market by S.T. Protex Co. Ltd. at a conference on December 16, 2020, at the Renaissance Ratchaprasong Hotel.   The company has received production rights from Chulalongkorn University to produce the PM 2.5 dust–fighting spray, “PhytFoon“.   

The “PM2.5 dust-fighting spray” is an innovation successfully developed by Associate Professor Suchada Sukrong, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor Passarapa Towiwat, Ph.D.  Both are Chula professors at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and members of the Guardian Co., Ltd., a start-up from the incubator of CU Pharmacy Enterprise, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and the CU Innovation Hub.  The spray can be used in closed areas, such as in homes, offices, and cars.  It also won first prize from the Leaders in Innovation Fellowships Program (LIF) 2020, which was co-sponsored by the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NTSDA), Newton Fund, and the United Kingdom’s Royal Academy of Engineering.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Suchada disclosed further that developing this pharmaceutical innovation took over a year to complete.  It targets the PM 2.5 dust particles with specific and effective mechanisms, combining natural extracts that are both efficient and safe for humans and the environment.  Observed through the microscope, the dust particles appeared larger and did not remain suspended in the air to be inhaled and enter our airways.  The spray is a cooperation between Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, and dust experts from Srinakharinwirot University.

“Ideas are vital for innovations.  We need to look at a problem and find ideas to solve it.  The hardest thing is to test whether our invention is effective and practical in the real world.  The tests have to be accurate”, said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Suchada.

An innovation becomes possible with the cooperation and support from various faculties, both in the sciences, business and marketing.  This allows the research to be further developed into a commercially feasible product.  Encouragement from good friends and teammates is valuable for success.  Moreover, the ability to apply knowledge to research that benefits society makes it all worth it.”