Insecticides in the Australian Defence Force – Time for a change

Author: Emina Buljubasic

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Buljubasic, Emina, 2024 Insecticides in the Australian Defence Force – Time for a change , Flinders University, College of Science and Engineering

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Abstract

Globally mosquitoes have been a cause for various diseases including malaria, West Nile virus, dengue and chikungunya. Australia has a strict Biosecurity Act which states that vectors must be destroyed prior to entry and leaving the country, especially on aircraft. With the Australian Defence Force travelling to multiple countries, it is imperative to ensure that environmental health officers in the Defence Force prevent the spread of vectors into Australia. Vector control can be achieved with the use of insecticides specifically targeting mosquitoes, however there are concerns of the toxicity of certain insecticides and the resistance that mosquitoes are gaining.

To assess both toxicity and resistance, a literature review was conducted on four types of insecticides (pyrethroids, neonicotinoids, carbamates and organophosphates), in the last ten years to assess whether a certain insecticide could be better utilised by environmental health officers. The reports from Scopus indicated that many mosquito species which are vectors for disease, have varying amounts of resistance, even within a country's own borders. While the toxicity reports indicate that some insecticides can potentially be riskier on human health such as, neonicotinoids taking longer to metabolise in the human body.

Taking into consideration the results from the literature review, a WHO cone bioassay was utilised to determine which insecticides could cause a 100% mortality on mosquitoes with surfaces that could be found in cargo areas. Wood, aluminium, plastic and canvas materials were sourced to replicate cargo of an aircraft and surfaces were sprayed with dinotefuran, imidacloprid/betacyfluthrin, deltamethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin and bifenthrin. Three genera of mosquitoes Aedes, Anopheles and Culex were exposed for three minutes to these surfaces and insecticides and then monitored for 24 hours to assess mortality.

The effectiveness of insecticides on surfaces varied considerably. The wooden surface’s worst insecticides were dinotefuran and imidacloprid/beta-cyfluthrin. Even the best performing insecticide on wood still did not achieve 100% mortality across all species of mosquitoes. On the plastic surfaces, dinotefuran and bifenthrin were the worst performers, while the other insecticides had similar mortalities. All insecticides did well against mosquitoes on aluminium, even though dinotefuran had the lowest mortality for Aedes. Canvas material also had a variation of mortalities, with zero mortalities for Aedes mosquitoes with dinotefuran and 100% for bifenthrin.

The results of the WHO cone bioassay highlighted how different insecticides and different species of mosquitoes on surfaces react. The pyrethroids performed well against most mosquito species on all the surfaces, with the exception of most insecticides on wood and bifenthrin on plastic. A recommendation for the use of insecticides in military aircraft is to use deltamethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin and bifenthrin on rotation depending on the country of travel. An assessment of what mosquitoes are present in the country of destination and their current resistance may help to ensure that vectors are destroyed in the cargo area and prevent them from entering Australia.

Keywords: insecticides, pesticides, biosecurity, mosquito suspectibility, mosquito resistance, mosquito,

Subject: Environmental Health thesis

Thesis type: Masters
Completed: 2024
School: College of Science and Engineering
Supervisor: Emma Kuhn