Response to Weber et al

Abstract

A number of previous studies have reported microbial degradation of polyethylene [1,2]. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses of the products of degradation are, in many cases, contradictory, especially with regard to the relative intensities of different signals, suggesting that pathways are complex and may differ among organisms [1,2]. A detailed consideration of possible degradation products and pathways would have been beyond the scope of our initial brief report [3]. Nevertheless, the peaks to which we drew attention are consistent with those generally described in other studies.