Environmental behavior and ecological effect of polydimethylsiloxane: a review
Yang, S.-Y.; Li, X.; Yang, J.; Shen, C.-F.; Yu, H.-D.; Lu, K.
Ying Yong Sheng Tai Xue Bao 23(8): 2319-2324
2012
ISSN/ISBN: 1001-9332 PMID: 23189715 Document Number: 660614
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is widely used in industrial products, medical and health care products, and personal care products. In the treatment process of sewage, PDMS can be hardly biodegraded but enter the environment mainly through the discharge of excess sludge, and only a small amount of PDMS adsorbed on the suspended solids or sludge particle surface is discharged into water body and sediment with treated sewage. There is no enough evidence to verify that PDMS can vertically migrate in sediment. The degradation of PDMS in sediment is very slow, but PDMS can be degraded in different types of soils. PDMS has less risk to aquatic ecosystem, and no apparent acute toxicity to benthos. In soil environment, PDMS and its degradation products have no significant effects on the soil microorganisms, soil animals, and crops. Though a few studies indicated that PDMS and its degradation products have relatively low ecological toxicity in various environments, it is still very important to clarify the potential threat of PDMS to the environment because of the increasingly large number of PDMS being produced and used.