NONCOVALENT SURFACE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN SILICONE AND BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES YIELD BIOREACTIVE SUBSTANCES

While most organometallics enter the environment through their industr ial release, silicones are organometallic compounds purposefully intro duced in high volume directly into healthy humans. A chemically center ed study of the behavior of silicones in the biological environment re veals numerous degradative reactions and surface interactions that can produce bioreactive substances. Data from a variety of disciplines su ggest that the preponderance of evidence supports the argument that si licone is a toxic organometallic. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.