Larvicidal Efficacy of Eco-friendly Zinc Oxide and Manganese Dioxide Nanoparticles: A Comparative Study

Mosquito act as a major vector in dispersal of infectious diseases which causes millions of deaths around the globe. Since the larval stage of mosquito is mainly dependent on stagnant water bodies, they can be controlled at this stage easily as compared to adult stage. Many synthetic or natural chemical agents are being used to control mosquito larvae, however, they often cause deleterious effects on other non-target aquatic species. Zinc oxide and manganese dioxide nanoparticles, fabricated using pomegranate (Punica granatum) leaves aqueous extract and ecofriendly nontoxic to aquatic animals, were assessed for their potential larvicidal activities in the present work. Mosquito larvae were subjected to varied doses of both the nanoparticles over a 96-hour exposure and percent mortality, if any, was recorded after every 24-hour time interval. The present work exhibits pomegranate mediated zinc oxide and manganese dioxide nanoparticles, both, to be effective larvicidal agents, though more profound activity (60% mortality) was recoded in zinc oxide nanoparticles by 96-hour exposure. Thus, the present work proposes ecofriendly nano-approaches for mosquito control.