Microplastics could be entering food chain through mosquitoes
- 6 years ago
READING, UNITED KINGDOM — Microplastics could be entering the food chain through mosquitoes, researchers have discovered.
This, in turn, threatens birds and other creatures that consume the flying insects.
Scientists from the University of Reading fed microplastics to mosquito larvae, and discovered the plastics remained inside the insects after they became adults. The study was published in the journal Biology Letters on Wednesday.
Researchers used Culex pipiens mosquitoes because of their prevalence around many global habitats. The team found the larvae consumed fluorescent microplastic particles that were 0.0002 centimeters in size.
According to The Guardian, as the larvae matured into the pupa stage and then into adult mosquitoes, many of the particles were transferred as well.
This means that creatures that eat the mosquitoes — such as birds, bats and spiders — are also ingesting the plastics.
The lead author of the study, Amanda Callaghan, a biological scientist at Reading told the AFP, although the research was carried out in a lab, it was "highly possible" this process was also occurring in the wild.
"It's a very major problem and those plastics already in the environment are going to be with us for a very, very long time," Callaghan said.
This, in turn, threatens birds and other creatures that consume the flying insects.
Scientists from the University of Reading fed microplastics to mosquito larvae, and discovered the plastics remained inside the insects after they became adults. The study was published in the journal Biology Letters on Wednesday.
Researchers used Culex pipiens mosquitoes because of their prevalence around many global habitats. The team found the larvae consumed fluorescent microplastic particles that were 0.0002 centimeters in size.
According to The Guardian, as the larvae matured into the pupa stage and then into adult mosquitoes, many of the particles were transferred as well.
This means that creatures that eat the mosquitoes — such as birds, bats and spiders — are also ingesting the plastics.
The lead author of the study, Amanda Callaghan, a biological scientist at Reading told the AFP, although the research was carried out in a lab, it was "highly possible" this process was also occurring in the wild.
"It's a very major problem and those plastics already in the environment are going to be with us for a very, very long time," Callaghan said.