Reading study finds "new way" for plastic pollution

Mosquitoes transfer plastics into the food chain, which "contaminates almost every corner of the environment," according to scientists.

A study at the University of Reading revealed that tiny pieces of plastic penetrate flying insects that lay their eggs in the water.

Academics discovered that "microplastics" inside larvae remained until adulthood.

Birds and bats then eat insects, which experts say is a "new way" for plastics in food chains.

Emma Priestland, Friends of the Earth's plastics activist, said the results were "disturbing" and that plastic pollution was "everywhere, not just the marine environment".

"Knowing that plastic can be transferred from the larval stage to the adult mosquito, which then feeds a multitude of larger animals, underscores the urgency with which we must drastically reduce our consumption of plastic," he said. she adds.

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The study involved Rana Al-Jaibachi, PhD student, feeding mosquito larvae with fluorescent plastic microbeads and monitoring their fate throughout their life cycle.

She used microscopes to determine if tiny plastics had been transferred from larval stages into the adult insect.

Professor Amanda Callaghan, biologist and lead author of the study, said the research was "revealing" and was "the first time" that microplastics could "navigate" between different life stages of flying insects.

She said: "Most recent attention has been given to the plastics that pollute our oceans, but this research reveals that this is also happening in our skies.

"It's a shocking reality that plastic contaminates almost every corner of the environment and its ecosystems."