Because of their inherently low toxicity, pure silicones present a low risk of unfavorable biological reactions and have thus gained widespread industrial and medical recognition and acceptance. The current health-care market supports a small group of manufacturers of silicone raw materials, companies such as General Electric, Wacker, Bayer, Dow Corning, Rohdia, Shin Etsu, NuSil Technology. The primary differences among these suppliers involve their level of testing and commitment to serving particular applications. Historically, concerns over potential liability have driven most large silicone manufacturers to aggressively exclude themselves from providing silicone intended to be used in the human body for more than 29 days. The author knows of only one supplier willing to continue serving the long-term implantable silicone market: NuSil Technology.