Mosquito larvae learned to eat the plastic. Why is that bad?

Plastic with the undoubted advantages such as convenience and versatility extremely badly decomposed. And plastic waste pollution has recently become a big problem. More recently, a group of researchers from the UK in the course of the study mosquitoes of the genus culex found that their larvae have learned to eat the plastic. And it is seriously concerned scholars.

About the study says the publication Biology Letters, a team of scientists headed by Professor Amanda Callaghan of the University of Reading. Studying the life cycle of mosquitoes Culex pipiens (mosquito-cheeper or Culex pipiens), experts selected 150 mosquitos larvae. They put them in the water, which are very small pieces of plastic. In this environment, insect larvae develop, and then among the entire population of 15 randomly selected larvae. It was found that on average, each larva contained about 3000 plastic beads the size 0, 002 millimeters. In this experiment is not over and all 150 larvae were given the opportunity to grow into adults. After that, among the newly formed mosquitoes away 15. On average, in the body of each mosquito was discovered 40 plastic balls.

fluorescent plastic beads within the mosquito

This state of affairs is extremely concerned scientists. According to Amanda Callaghan,

"The larvae of mosquitoes ingest large portion of food. It contains a variety of algae, grains of sand and other materials about the same size. The larvae can not filter out the "edible from inedible", so they fill themselves not digest plastic. And similarly larvae of many other insects. Concern is that of small insects plastic is no problem to pass on the entire food chain: fish, birds, spiders, mammals, and so on. In this case, the toxic effects of plastic on animal organisms can have extremely negative consequences for the entire fauna. "

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