Mosquito-Microplastic interactions as a Threat to Public Health – MOMI-TPH

Global plastic production has been steadily increasing over the past half-century. However, only 21% of all plastics have been incinerated or recycled, while nearly a quarter of total production ends up in the environment. Over time, these plastics undergo chemical, physical, and biological degradation, fragmenting into smaller particles known as microplastics. When ingested, microplastics can affect organisms at molecular, cellular, and systemic levels, making them a significant public health concern.
Mosquitoes, as vectors of disease, pose a major global health threat. Recent studies suggest that interactions between microplastics and mosquitoes may further amplify their impact on public health. The tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), in particular, provides an ideal model for studying the link between microplastic pollution and the transmission of vector-borne diseases. Over the past century, A. albopictus has become the world's most invasive mosquito species due to its exceptional adaptability to urban environments. Its larvae thrive in artificial water-holding containers such as discarded tires, flower pot saucers, plastic debris, and rainwater collectors—sites where they are continuously exposed to microplastic contamination. Furthermore, this species is a major vector of several critical arthropod-borne viral diseases, including dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, and Zika.
The MOMI-TPH will adopt an Eco-Health approach integrating three key components: 1) Field sampling to establish the actual relationship between larval exposure risk and microplastic ingestion in natural environments; 2) Behavioral experiments to assess how microplastic ingestion affects larval mobility and their ability to acquire food; 3) laboratory experimental infections to assess how microplastic ingestion influences mosquito life history traits and virus replication within mosquitoes; and 3) mathematical modeling to predict epidemiological outcomes.
Our comprehensive approach will, for the first time, depict a precise relationship between the microplastics present in larval habitats and those actually ingested by mosquito larvae and will enable predictions on how microplastic pollution impacts the epidemiology of vector-borne arboviruses such as dengue and chikungunya.