CES-SILICONES EUROPE MONITORING PROGRAMIn January of 2018, the European Union issued a REACH restriction on the use of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) and decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) in wash-off personal care products (PCPs). The goal of the restriction is to reduce the amount of D4 and D5 being released to the aquatic environment by restricting their use in personal care products.

To assess the impact of this REACH restriction, CES-Silicones Europe (CES) began monitoring the amount of D4 and D5 being released to wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). This monitoring is a surrogate for estimating consumer use of personal care products containing D4 and D5.

PROGRAM DESIGNThe CES Monitoring Program collects samples of the influent wastewater to six representative WWTPs across five European Union (EU) States that receive wastewater primarily from residential sources. The design of the program allows for a rigorous statistical evaluation of D4 and D5 data over time to assess the impact of the restriction.

3 SAMPLING PERIODSThe Program will assess 3 time periods: the period before the restriction was in place, the 2-year phase-out period for personal care products, and the period after the restriction is in place (Jan. 2020).

MONITORING PROGRAM TO ASSESS IMPACT OF PERSONAL CARE PRODUCT RESTRICTIONS FINDS LOW LEVELS OF D4 AND D5

Germany Kläranlage Halle

Poland

Germany Wolfsburg-Brackstedt

Spain

Stalowa Wola Wastewater

Treatment Works

SwedenNorrköping Vatten

och Avfall

Lleida Wastewater Treatment Works

United Kingdom

Bury Wastewater Treatment Works

PRE-RESTRICTION PERIOD RESULTSConcentrations of D4 are already in the range of the predicted post-restriction level at all of the WWTPs. For D5, concentrations are approaching the predicted post-restriction level at all of the WWTPs. These concentra-tions are lower than expected and suggest that the restriction was unnecessary.

Example D4/D5 Sampling Site

Residential Wastewater

Drain

Influent

D4 & D5 Sampling

WWTP

Over 1100 samples of residential wastewater flowing into waste-water treatment plants, during different seasons and at different times of day and days of the week have been analyzed in this period before the restriction.

ECHA predictedpre-restrictionlevel

DE1 DE2 ES1 PL1 SE1 UK1

1.5

1.0

0.5

D4 Concentration1.5

D5

(µg/

l)

D4 Concentration

D4

(µg/

l)

ECHA predictedpost-restrictionlevel

DE1 - Halle an der Salle, Germany DE2 - Wolfsburg-Brackstedt, Germany ES1 - Spain PL1 - Poland SE1 - Sweden UK1 - United Kingdom

DE1 DE2 ES1 PL1 SE1 UK10

10

20

30

40

50D5 Concentration