Toxicity Profile for Polydimethylsiloxane (1991)

Abstract

Polydimethylsiloxanes (PDMS), in general, were not skin irritants in man, rabbits or guinea-pigs, although the lowest molecular weight compound, hexamethyldisiloxane, has irritated the skin of rabbits. PDMS has caused eye irritation in humans and laboratory animals. It was of low acute toxicity in laboratory animals by the oral, inhalation and dermal routes, and studies involving repeated administration failed to identify any particular sites for toxic attack. Limited oral and dermal studies have provided no convincing evidence of reproductive toxicity in rats and rabbits, and limited long-term feeding studies in rodents have given no conclusive indication of carcinogenicity. No evidence of genotoxic potential was found in rodents treated by injection, in mammalian cells in culture or in Ames bacterial tests.