The cyclic siloxanes D4, D5, D6 – used 98% of the time as building blocks for silicone polymers – are facing a global ban under the Stockholm Convention.
Silicone polymers provide solutions that are crucial in the achievement of the EU’s strategic objectives. They are a key enabler of the European Green Deal, supporting sustainable mobility (via applications in batteries and electric vehicles), and the deployment of renewable energy sources (wind, solar and hydrogen). Silicones also contribute to the EU’s Strategic Autonomy, fostering Europe’s industrial competitiveness. They are vital to value chains such as construction, to realiably bond together dissimilar materials (concrete, glass, granite, marble, aluminium, steel, composites and plastics).
Silicones Europe, a sector Group of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) representing producers of silicones, silanes and siloxanes in Europe, supports science-based decision-making and contests the scientific basis used for the proposal to regulate D4, D5, and D6 under the Stockholm Convention. To address scientific uncertainties, we are working with an independent scientific panel – supported by several EU Member State and third country authorities – to perform a comprehensive field study at three different Antarctic stations. The purpose is to obtain concentrations of silicone monomers in Antarctica’s air, soil, sediment and water.