Industrial Organosilicon Materials, Their Environmental Entry and Predicted Fate

Abstract

Commercial organosilicon materials have many physical forms and applications, so it makes sense to focus environmental fate and effects attention on those which may have environmental exposure. This chapter summarizes the structures, manufacturing processes, applications, and production volumes of the important industrial organosilicon materials.Environmental entry and initial fate are discussed by classifying the materials according to physico-chemical properties, then estimating the volume of each class which enters the various environmental compartments. Estimated and observed physico-chemical properties for each material class were used to predict the ultimate environmental fate. By condensing a vast array of materials having the potential for environmental exposure into three distinct categories, these classes have become the focal point of environmental studies and the subsequent chapters of this volume.