Human Health Risk And Ecological Assessment Of Cyclic Volatile Methylsiloxanes

Cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes (cVMS) are a subgroup of volatile methylsiloxanes with high vapor pressures, low water solubilities, and high Henry’s Law constants. The main uses of cVMS are as an intermediate for the production of silicone polymers, in personal care products, in household products, and construction. Recently, several regulatory jurisdictions have prioritized a number of cVMS, including D4, D5, and D6based on concerns regarding their persistence and bioaccumulation potential in the environment. In this study, the air, sediment, water, and soil concentrations were reviewed from the published literatures. Then we calculated the exposure dose of general people based on air, personal care products and fish concentrations we investigated. We also summarized their toxicity and calculated the reference doses of D5. The hazard index values (HI) via multiple exposure pathways were <1, indicating the human health risk of exposure for D5is very low. Inhalation intake is a much more important pathway compared with the dietary and dermal contact for the general people. In order to protect their health, we should control the air concentrations to reduce the exposures. Ecological risk assessments of cVMS were performed for the aquatic, sediment, and soil environment. The results showed that HI values for D5are larger than1in sediment, aquatic, and soil environment, which indicated D5can induce high risk to the environment.