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

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.