Silicone products are safe to use. Silicones are made chemically by creating a "backbone" of silicone from common sand and oxygen molecules, a combination that does not occur in nature. Then various other synthetic molecules are added branching off of the main silicon-oxygen line to create hundreds of different silicones that range from liquids to rubbery solids. Though this is a completely manmade product, it is completely inert and will not transfer to skin. Silicone is safe and environmentally friendly.

Health and Environmental Effects

I went to the Dow Corning website who makes over 700 different silicone rubbers and looked at a random sample of their MSDS's. The ones I read listed no hazardous materials or health effects, or needed first aid measures. All descriptions I read of silicone rubber describe it as chemically inert and stable, so it is unlikely to react with or leach into food, nor outgas vapors. MSDS's also note that silicone is not toxic to aquatic or soil organisms, it is not hazardous waste, and while it is not biodegradable, it can be recycled after a lifetime of use.

Some years back there was a question about the safety of silicone used in breast implants. Whether or not the health problems experienced by some women with breast implants were associated with the implants has been very controversial. I found an article from the year 2000 on a leading website on breast cancer and related women's issues that states "A large study conducted by researchers from the National Cancer Institute NCI finds no correlation between silicone-filled breast implants and breast cancer risk."

Use

Silicone is now being used to make a whole variety of useful products from silicone wristbands to non-stick cookware.

Information provided by Debra Lynn Dadd, Hailed as the "Queen of Green" By The New York Time.