Mesoplastics and large microplastics along a use gradient on the Uruguay Atlantic coast: Types, sources, fates, and chemical loads.

Plastic pollution is a global problem with great local and regional variability. Plastic litter reaches beaches directly and indirectly through different pathways, due to both terrestrial and marine pressures. In this study, we assess and characterize meso and microplastic pollution on four Uruguayan oceanic beaches along a gradient of tourist use within a complex regional coastal marine system.