Environ. Sci. Technol. 1997, 31, 1555-1563
Environmental Occurrence of Polydimethylsiloxane N . J . F E N D I N G E R , * ,† D . C . M C A V O Y , ‡ W. S. ECKHOFF,‡ AND B. B. PRICE† The Procter and Gamble Company, Sharon Woods Technical Center, 11511 Reed Hartman Highway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45241, and The Procter and Gamble Company, Ivorydale Technical Center, 5299 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217
An extensive monitoring program was conducted to determine the occurrence of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) in environmental compartments impacted by consumer waste disposal practices. Eight wastewater treatment plants, representative of those found in North America, were monitored to determine PDMS removal during wastewater treatment. Surface waters, sediments, and sludgeamended soils impacted by wastewater treatment plant effluents and sludges were also monitored for a more complete assessment of the environmental fate of PDMS. Newly developed GPC-ICP and/or HPLC-ICP analytical techniques were used to provide insight into the environmental fate of PDMS and anticipated PDMS degradation products. PDMS was found to be highly removed during wastewater treatment with effluent concentrations, in most cases, below the quantitation limit of the analytical technique (
