Volatile Methylsiloxanes in the Environment, 1st ed. 2020 The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry Series, Vol. 89

Comprising 12 chapters, this book focuses on volatile methylsiloxanes (VMSs), the shorter-chained organosiloxanes, and reviews the main areas and environmental compartments where they have been found and studied.

It opens with a detailed description of the structural and functional properties, toxic risks and possible transformations of VMSs in the environment and their main uses in various activities and products, as well as the identification of the main sources of emission. Further chapters examine the analytical strategies and protocols that have been used to address the quantification of VMSs, including the issue of possible cross-contaminations. The book also discusses the presence of VMSs in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and in water bodies, their atmospheric fate and levels in biota, as well as occurrences of VMSs in remote areas of the world. It closes with a comprehensive conclusion and discussion on future directions for upcoming studies.

This book is not intended as a finishing line, but rather as an important step towards improving our understanding of VMSs, to fuel new collaborations between research groups and/or with industry and lastly to convince more researchers to explore the mysteries of these ubiquitous, yet understudied, chemicals.

1. Properties, potential toxicity and transformations of VMSs in the environment (Dr. Kazimierz Gaj: Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Wroclaw University of Technology (Poland), email: kazimierz.gaj@pwr.edu.pl)

2. Main uses and environmental emissions of Volatile Methylsiloxanes (Dr. Yuichi Horii: Center for Environmental Science in Saitama, email: yuichi.horii@gmail.com)

3. Analytical methods for Volatile Methylsiloxanes quantification: current trends and challenges (Dr. Vera Homem & Dr. Nuno Ratola: LEPABE, Faculty of Engineeering, University of Porto (Portugal). Emails: vhomem@fe.up.pt; nrneto@fe.up.pt)

4. Fate of Volatile Methylsiloxanes in wastewater treatment plants (Dr. Mehran Alaee: Water Science and Technology Directorate, Environment and Climate Change Canada, email: mehran.alaee@canada.ca)

5. Presence of Siloxanes in Sewage Biogas and Their Impact on Its Energetic Valorization(Dr. Nico de Arespacochaga: Water Technology Center CETaqua (Barcelona), email: narespacochaga@cetaqua.com)

6. Volatile Dimethylsiloxanes in aquatic systems (Dr. Marinella Farré: Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), email: marinella.farre@idaea.csic.es)

7. Cyclic and linear siloxanes in indoor environments: Occurrence and human exposure (Dr. Alessandra Cincinelli: Department of Chemistry “Ugo Schiff”, University of Florence, email: acincinelli@unifi.it)

8. Levels of volatile methyl siloxanes in outdoor air (Dr. Eva Gallego: Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona (ETSEIB),  Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), email: eva.gallego@upc.edu)

9. Atmospheric fate of volatile methyl siloxanes (Prof. Michael McLachlan: Department of Applied Environmental Science (ITM), Stockholm University, email: michael.mclachlan@itm.su.se)

10. Bioconcentration, bioaccumulation and biomagnification of volatile methylsiloxanes in biota (Dr. Sofia Augusto: EPIUnit, Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (ISPUP/UP), 4050-600 Porto, Portugal, email:s.augusto@fc.ul.pt) 

11. Volatile Methyl Siloxanes in polar regions (Dr. Ingjerd Krogseth & Dr. Nicholas Warner: NILU, Norwegian Institute for Air Research, email: isk@nilu.no; NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research, FRAM Centre, email: nicholas.warner@nilu.no)

12. Concluding remarks and future perspectives (Dr. Nuno Ratola & Dr. Vera Homem: LEPABE, Faculty of Engineeering, University of Porto (Portugal). Emails: nrneto@fe.up.pt ; vhomem@fe.up.pt)

Nuno Ratola has been a Principal Researcher at the Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy (LEPABE), based at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto (FEUP, Portugal) since 2019, and an Invited Assistant Professor at FEUP since 2015. He graduated in Chemical Engineering (1996), and completed his Master’s in Environmental Engineering (2002) and PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering (2009) at FEUP. He has profited from numerous external residencies at various leading foreign research institutions, including a Marie Curie fellowship at the University of Murcia (Spain) from 2012 to 2014. His research interests include environmental chemistry and the behaviour of legacy and emerging organic contaminants, field sampling strategies, advanced analytical techniques, waste valorisation for energy production and safe recycling (circular economy), human exposure assessment and climate change scenarios.

Offers state-of-the-art insights into volatile methylsiloxanes

Examines the future of the field

Highlights the importance of a collaborative approach