GESAMP: Organosilicons in the Marine Environment

This report reviews the environmental behaviour and health implications of commercially significant organosilicon compounds entering the marine environment. It reproduces the substantive part of the report prepared by the Working Group on the Review of Harmful Substances and approved by the sixteenth session of the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution held in London in March 1986. Using the established methodology of earlier reviews, the document evaluates silanes and siloxanes with regard to their sources, production, and pathways of contamination, particularly releases associated with product use and wastewater. It analyses transport, transformation and bioaccumulation in seawater, sediments and marine organisms, and reviews experimental evidence on effects on marine biota and toxicological data relevant to human exposure.