Indoor environment factor · measured in µg/m³
Siloxanes
Part of: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
Also: Siloxane, Polysiloxane, Polysiloxanes, cyclic siloxanes, D5
A family of silicon–oxygen compounds used in personal care products, sealants and polishes. The cyclic members are volatile enough to be measured in indoor air, where they are among the compounds most consistently found wherever cosmetics are used.
Where they come from indoors
Siloxanes are a subgroup of the volatile organic compounds, distinguished by a backbone of alternating silicon and oxygen atoms. Indoors, the cyclic forms — decamethylcyclopentasiloxane above all — come mainly from personal care products: antiperspirants, hair products and skin creams, where they are used because they spread easily and then evaporate. Sealants, polishes and some textiles add to the background.
What has been measured
In a French study of children attending daycare, decamethylcyclopentasiloxane in the highest quartile was associated with recurrent wheeze against the lowest quartile (odds ratio 2.27, 95 % CI 1.09–4.71, p-trend 0.02), but the association did not survive correction for multiple testing (F-0031).
That last clause is the whole of it. The measured association was there; after the correction that guards against finding associations by chance when many compounds are tested at once, it was no longer significant.
How they are measured
As part of a volatile organic compound analysis: adsorption onto a sorbent tube, thermal desorption and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. A consumer volatile organic compound sensor does not identify them separately — it reports a summed signal in which siloxanes are indistinguishable from everything else present.
What the studies report
| Linked to | Effect | Population | Study design | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheeze | OR 2.27 (1.09–4.71) | children · daycare | cross-sectional study, 532 children in 100 daycares (French CRESPI cohort, 2019-2022), generalized estimating equations | F-0031 Association between volatile organic compound concentrations… (2026) | machine |
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Identifiers
- MeSH
- D012833
In the literature
- Association between volatile organic compound concentrations in daycares and child wheeze: the French CRESPI study (2026). Environ Health. doi:10.1186/s12940-026-01307-6 CKB 1230
Studies in the Coridum Knowledge Base in which this term is used. The definition follows standard usage in WHO, ISO and textbook sources; it is not quoted from these papers.
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Cite this page
Coridum Research. Siloxanes. Coridum Knowledge G-0104, 8 September 2026. https://coridum.com/k/G-0104/