Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Survey of Cyclic and Linear Siloxanes in Sediment from the Songhua River and in Sewage Sludge from Wastewater Treatment Plants, Northeastern China

  • Published:
Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Siloxanes are used in a wide range of industrial applications, such as fuel additives, automotive polishes and waxes, and antifoaming agents, as well as in personal care products and biomedical devices. Despite the potential for environmental occurrence, few studies have reported sources and pathways of siloxanes in the environment. In this study, we determined concentrations of four cyclic siloxanes, namely, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6), and tetradecamethylcycloheptasiloxane (D7) as well as 13 linear siloxanes (L4 to L16), in sediments sampled from the Songhua River and in sewage sludge sampled from treatment plants that discharge wastewater into the Songhua River in northeastern China. Siloxanes were found in all of the sediment samples at total concentrations (sum of all cyclic and linear siloxanes) as high as 2050 ng/g dry weight (dw). The respective total concentration ranges for cyclic (D4, D5, D6, and D7) and linear (L4 to L16) siloxanes in sewage sludge were 602 to 2360 and 98 to 3310 ng/g dw. Cyclic siloxanes were found at greater concentrations than linear siloxanes in sediment samples. However, the summed concentrations of linear siloxanes were higher than the summed concentrations of cyclic siloxanes in sludge samples. Among cyclic siloxanes, D7 and D5 were the dominant compounds in both sediment and sludge. Among linear siloxanes, L10 and L11 together accounted for 55% of the total concentrations in sludge samples, and L6 accounted for 30% of the total concentration in sediment samples. To our knowledge, this is the first report to document concentrations and compositions of organosiloxanes in sediments and sewage sludge from China.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen RB, Kochs P, Chandra G (1997) Organosilicon Materials. In: Chandra G (ed) The handbook of environmental chemistry, vol 3. Part H. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 1–25

  • Bai B (2010) Top 10 news of 2009. China Silicone News 3:4–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns-Naas LA, Mast RW, Meeks RG et al (1998) Inhalation toxicology of decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) following a 3-month nose-only exposure in Fischer 344 rats. Toxicol Sci 43:230–240

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burns-Naas LA, Meeks RG, Kolesar GB et al (2002) Inhalation toxicology of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) following a 3-month nose-only exposure in Fischer 344 rats. Int J Toxicol 2:39–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fendinger NJ, Mcavoy DC, Lehmann RG, Mihaich EM (1997a) Polydimethylsiloxane. In: Chandra G (ed) The handbook of environmental chemistry, vol 3. Part H. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 181–223

  • Fendinger NJ, Mcavoy DC, Eckhoff WS, Price BB (1997b) Environmental occurrence of polydimethylsiloxane. Environ Sci Technol 31:1555–1563

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Granchi D, Cavedagna D, Ciapetti G et al (1995) Silicone breast implants: the role of immune-system on capsular contracture formation. J Biomed Mater Res 29:197–202

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hamelink JL (1992) Silicones. In: Hutzinger EO (ed) The handbook of environmental chemistry, vol 3. Part F. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 383–394

  • Hayden JF, Barlow SA (1972) Structure-activity relationships of organosiloxanes and the female reproductive system. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 21:68–79

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • He B, Rhodes-Brower S, Miller MR, Munson AE, Germolec DG, Walker VR, Korach KS et al (2003) Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane exhibits estrogenic activity in mice via ER alpha. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 192:54–261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horii Y, Kannan K (2008) Survey of organosilicone compounds, including cyclic and linear siloxanes, in personal-care and household products. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 55:701–710

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kaj L, Schlabach M, Andersson J, Palm Cousins A, Schmidbauer N, Brorstrom-Lunden E (2005) Siloxanes in the Nordic environment. TemaNord 593

  • Lieberman MW, Lykissa ED, Barrios R et al (1999) Cyclosiloxanes produce fatal liver and lung damage in mice. Environ Health Perspect 107:161–165

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lu Y, Yuan T, Yun SH, Wang W, Wu Q, Kannan K (2010) Occurrence of cyclic and linear siloxanes in indoor dust from China, and implications for human exposures. Environ Sci Technol 44:6081–6087

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lykissa ED, Kala SV, Hurley JB, Lebovitz RM (1997) Release of low molecular weight silicones and platinum from silicone breast implants. Anal Chem 69:4912–4916

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Powell DE, Annelin RB, Gallavan RH (1999) Silicone in the environment: a worst-case assessment of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) in sediments. Environ Sci Technol 33:3706–3710

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn AL, Regan JM, Tobin J, Marinik BJ, McMahon JM, Plotzke KP (2007) In vitro and in vivo evaluation of the estrogenic, androgenic, and progestagenic potential of two cyclic siloxanes. Toxicol Sci 96:145–153

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens C, Annelin RB (1997) Ecotoxicity testing challenges of organosilicone materials. In: Chandra G (ed) Organosilicone materials. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, p 83

    Google Scholar 

  • Varaprath S, Frye CL, Hamelink J (1996) Aqueous solubility of permethylsiloxanes (silicones). Environ Toxicol Chem 15:1263–1265

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Watermann B, Berger HD, Sonnichsen H, Willemsen P (1997) Performance and effectiveness of non-stick coatings in seawater. Biofouling 11:101–118

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Watts RJ, Kong SH, Haling CS, Gearhart T, Frye CL, Vigon BW (1995) Fate and effects of polydimethylsiloxanes on pilot and bench-top active-sludge reactors and anaerobic-aerobic digesters. Water Res 29:2405–2411

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful for financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50638020) and the State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China (Project 2008DX01) during the sampling portion of the study. Funding for the method development (analytic) portion was provided by a biomonitoring grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA; 1U38EH000464-01) to the Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Empire State Plaza, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY, 12201-0509, USA

    Zifeng Zhang & Kurunthachalam Kannan

  2. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, Empire State Plaza, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY, 12201-0509, USA

    Zifeng Zhang & Kurunthachalam Kannan

  3. International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS), State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China

    Zifeng Zhang, Hong Qi, Nanqi Ren, Yifan Li, Dawen Gao & Kurunthachalam Kannan

  4. Science and Technology Branch, Environment Canada, Toronto, ON, M3H 5T4, Canada

    Yifan Li

Authors
  1. Zifeng Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hong Qi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nanqi Ren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yifan Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Dawen Gao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Kurunthachalam Kannan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kurunthachalam Kannan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zhang, Z., Qi, H., Ren, N. et al. Survey of Cyclic and Linear Siloxanes in Sediment from the Songhua River and in Sewage Sludge from Wastewater Treatment Plants, Northeastern China. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 60, 204–211 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-010-9619-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-010-9619-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation