We report the evaluation of superficial degradation of orange and colorless linear low density polyethylene samples exposed to weather. Color change and UV-VIS absorption were measured on samples exposed to the weather conditions of the city of Aguascalientes, Mexico, for more that? a Year. The color change was calculated in CIELAB units. Color change and absorption presented an exponential decay with time for orange samples, whereas they remained constant for colorless samples. No degradation products from the polymer matrix were revealed by UV-VIS spectroscopy, and apart from color change, no other degradation was noticed, (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 34, 458-463. 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.20539