The characteristics of the starburst galaxies from the Pico dos Dias Survey (PDS, Coziol et al., 1998ApJS..119..239C) are compared with those of the nearby ultraviolet (UV) bright Markarian starburst galaxies, having the same limit in redshift (v_h_<7500km/s) and absolute B magnitude (M_B_<18). An important difference is found: the Markarian galaxies are generally undetected at 12 and 25um in IRAS. This is consistent with the UV excess shown by these galaxies and suggests that the youngest star-forming regions dominating these galaxies are relatively free of dust.