Identification of organosiloxanes in ambient fine particulate matters using an untargeted strategy via gas chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Organosilicons are widely used in consumer products and are ubiquitous in living environments. However, there is little systemic information on this group of pollutants in ambient particles. This study proposes a novel untargeted strategy based mainly on the mass difference of three silicon isotopes to screen organosilicon compounds from 2-year PM 2.5 samples of Beijing using gas chromatography and high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry. 61 organosilicons were filtered from 1019 peaks, and 35 ones were identified as organosiloxanes including 17 methylsiloxanes and 18 phenylmethylsiloxanes, of which 6 and 3 species were confirmed using reference standards, respectively. These organosiloxanes could be clustered into three groups: low-silicon-number methylsiloxanes, high-silicon-number methylsiloxanes, and phenylmethylsiloxanes. Low-silicon-number methylsiloxanes showed high abundance in the heating season but low abundance in the non-heating season, whereas high-silicon-number methylsiloxanes showed the opposite seasonal variation. This study provides a promising strategy for screening organosilicon compounds through an untargeted approach and gives insights for further investigation of the sources and health risks of organosiloxanes. • We developed a strategy for organosilicons based on silicon isotopic mass differences. • 61 organosilicons were screened from 1019 peaks of PM 2.5 sampled in Beijing. • 35 ones were identified as organosiloxanes based on their characteristic mass spectra. • Low- and high-silicon-number methylsiloxanes showed opposite seasonal variances.