At a Glance

Scientists say bits of plastic eaten by insect larvae could move up the food chain.Their study reveals for the first time that microplastics can be transmitted between life stages of creatures that live in water.

Flying insect larvaeeating micro bits of plastic could pose a problem because the tiny pieces of plastic could move up the food chain and pollute“a whole new environment,” scientists say.

Scientists with England's University of Reading have found that by thelarvae of insects that lay their eggs in water,such as mosquitoes,are able to be transferred from the larvae to the adult form, according to a study published this week in Biology Letters.Adult,flying insects can then be eaten by birds and bats, providing a potential new pathway for plastics to enter the food chain.

“Much recent attention has been given to the plastics polluting our oceans, but this it is also in our skies,"lead authorAmanda Callaghan, abiological scientist at the University of Reading, said in a press release.

One of Callaghan's students, Rana Al-Jaibachi,fed fluorescentplastic microbeads to mosquito larvae. The team monitored the larvae through their life cycle using a microscope and discovered the beads had transferred "from the feeding larval stages to the non-feeding pupal stage and on into the adult insect."

“This is eye-opening research, which has shown us for the first time that microplastics are able to navigate several life stages in f, allowing them to contaminate all kinds of living creatures who would not normally be exposed to them," Callaghan said.

Microplastics originate from plastic pollution that makes its way into the world's oceans. Massive garbage patchespollute the seas worldwide, and there appears to be no limit on how far-reaching the plastics epidemic will extend. Earlier this year, a record concentration of microplastics wasdiscovered trapped in the Arctic's sea ice.

One recent study from the World Economic Forum says, which amounts to the equivalent of one garbage truck dumped into the ocean every minute.

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In June, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the first-ever U.N. Ocean Conferenceby citing that says plastics dumped into the world's oceans may outweigh fish by 2050.

Meanwhile, an estimated 90 percent of seagulls mistake plastic for food and have bits of plastic in their guts.Researchers say if the trendcontinues, 99 percent of seabirds will be affected by 2050.

While much has been reported on the effects of microplastics in the world's waters and the impact on marine ecosystems,this isthe first study that shows how microplastics can "can be transmitted between life stages of creatures that live in water before moving into a terrestrial environment."

"It is a shocking reality that plastic is contaminating almost every corner of the environment and its ecosystems,” Callaghan said.