By Simon Gardner

SANTIAGO, March 27 (Reuters) - Touting the anti-bacterial properties of copper, world producers are looking for a new gold mine: the hospital ward.

The Latin American arm of the International Copper Association, a copper promotion body, on Thursday feted a U.S. finding that copper alloys may have public health benefits.

Manufacturers say copper has properties that kill bacteria and are looking to put its burnt-orange tint to the hospital surfaces, rails and door handles of the future.

"We want copper to be used in the health-care industry," said Miguel Riquelme Alarcon, the copper association's regional director. "The potential is enormous."

The copper producers made their pitch after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's registration last month of five copper alloys to be used to make objects like door knobs, counter tops, hand rails and intravenous poles.

According to the Copper Development Association, which applied for the EPA registration, the U.S. agency did independent laboratory tests that demonstrated copper, brass and bronze kill specific disease-causing bacteria.

But the EPA cautioned in a statement, "The copper alloy surface is a supplement to, not a substitute for, standard infection control practices."

Producers say copper-coated surfaces will reduce the threat of secondary infections from bacteria or viruses lurking in hospitals.

Alarcon said copper alloys would be a cost-effective alternative to existing materials and predicted as much as 500,000 tonnes of copper could one day be used in health-care.

"We forecast that will pick up steam over the next five years," he added.

Copper kills bacteria because of ions it releases, according to Guillermo Figueroa of the nutrition and food technology department of the University of Chile in Santiago.

"Copper ions separate on contact with bacteria and cause irreversible damage to the bacteria's cells," Figueroa said. "It is a very swift, physical, chemical process. They die quickly." (Editing by Doina Chiacu)

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