Extraction of silicones from soil

Silicone polymer, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), was extracted from soil incubated at 100 mg kg⁻¹ for 0, 1,3, 7, 14, and 28 d with mean recovery of 95.4% (σ = 2.1%). From four agricultural soils incubated for one week at 1, 10, and 100mg kg⁻¹, mean extraction recovery was 95.6% (σ = 3.2%). The method is now being used in ¹⁴C studies on the fate of silicones in the soil environment and will later be used for extraction of silicones from field samples.