Methyl Siloxanes in Environmental
Matrices around
a Siloxane Production Facility, and Their Distribution and Elimination
in Plasma of Exposed Population
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Abstract
In this study, we systematically investigated methyl
siloxanes
(D4–D6, L3–L16) exposure to workers from and residents
living near a siloxanes manufacturing facility by measuring their
concentrations in both environmental matrices (air, dust/soil, <i>n</i> = 62) and human plasma samples (<i>n</i> = 201).
For the seventeen target compounds, the average concentrations in
indoor matrixes from six workshops of the facility ranged from 0.6
μg/m<sup>3</sup> to 2.7 mg/m<sup>3</sup> in air samples and
from 0.36 μg/g to 1.16 mg/g in dust samples, which were 3–5
orders of magnitudes higher than those levels at the reference zone.
In plasma samples from the current workers in six workshops and residents
living near the facility, the average concentrations of methyl siloxanes
were 5.61–451 and 4.56–13.5 ng/g, respectively, which
were 1–2 magnitudes higher than those in the reference group.
Plasma methyl siloxanes concentrations of people from different workshops
were positively correlated with their exposure levels, indicating
that high occupational exposure in siloxane production process elevated
human plasma concentrations. However, there was no significant correlation
between human plasma concentrations with their duration of occupation.
These methyl siloxanes were eliminated from human plasma with half-lives
ranging from 2.34 to 9.64 days, which increased with the increasing
number of Si–O bonds for most analogues