Fig. 1.

Examples of plastic pollution in freshwaters ecosystems of South America: a Rocha River (Amazon basin), after crossing urban areas in Cochabamba, Bolivia; b Man removing plastics (e.g., bottles) from Rocha River for recycling; c) polymer pollution in an urban river (Argentina); d plastics accumulated in the margin of the middle Paraná River (Isla Puente, Argentina); e plastic fragments (micro, meso and macro) collected with ichthyoplankton nets in the Paraíba do Sul River basin (Brazil); f remains of fishing nets on the littoral zone of a Brazilian reservoir, after a drawdown event