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Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ethylene or MTBE
Is a fuel oxygenating addative up to 15% by volume in gasoline, and reduces fuel economy by a bit less than that. It cost us millions to phase in, many millions more to phase out, and could cost billions to clean up if somone can figure out how. Bush says the survivors will learn to live with teh taste and turpentine odor.
the highlights:
FIRE AND EXPLOSION HAZARD: Highly flammable liquid. Evaporates readily. Vapour is heavier than air and can form explosive mixtures with air.
HEALTH HAZARD: Irritating to skin. Vapour irritates the eyes and the respiratory tract. High concentrations may produce nausea headache and narcotic effects. Prolonged or repeated contact causes drying and irritation of the skin. Aspiration of product into the lungs can cause fatal chemical pneumonitis.
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD: Not readily biodegradable. Risk of soil and ground water
contamination.
The USEPA has not established drinking water standards for MTBE. In December 1997 the USEPA issued a "Drinking Water Advisory" for MTBE of 20 to 40 micrograms per liter (µg/L), primarily for taste and odor considerations. Based on present knowledge, USEPA believes that this provides a wide margin of safety.
Gasoline with MTBE can also contaminate large amounts of water; 1 gallon of reformulated gasoline mixed with 4 million gallons of water will yield 20 µg/L MTBE in the water (Squillace and others, 1997.)
MTBE does not biodegrade easily under various environmental conditions. If a research investigation determines that a compound does not degrade, a half-life is not reported and the compound is simply classified as recalcitrant. MTBE is generally reported as recalcitrant and there are no widely accepted estimates of the half-life. Investigators have reported that MTBE is recalcitrant in anaerobic laboratory studies including denitrifying conditions, sulfate-reducing conditions, methanogenic-reducing conditions, and anaerobic conditions in landfill-affected aquifer material, soils, and sludges (Fujiwara and others, 1984; Jensen and Arvin, 1990; Yeh and Novak, 1991, 1994; Suflita and Mormile, 1993; Mormile and others, 1994). Yeh and Novak (1995) also reported that there was no degradation of MTBE in an aerobic laboratory study after more than 100 days of incubation. Nevertheless, degradation of MTBE has been reported on occasion and this indicates that some microorganisms are able to degrade MTBE (Thomas and others, 1988; Daniel, 1995). The degradation of MTBE in ground water can lead to the formation of tert-butyl alcohol, which can cause some carcinogenic activity in laboratory animals (Cirvello and others, 1995).
On March 25, 1999, Governor Gray Davis released Executive Order D-5-99 that ordered the removal of the additive MTBE (Methyl Tertiary-Butyl Ether) from California gasoline at the earliest possible date, but no later than December 31, 2002.
On March 15, 2002, the Governor issued a new Executive Order and announced a one-year extension to the phase out of MTBE. "Under the newly announced timeline, the MTBE phaseout will be accomplished no later than December 31, 2003. Individual refineries have may continue to make the transition to ethanol earlier than December 2003 if they determine it is feasible and will not risk supply shortages or price spikes."
Learn more:
http://www.dnr.state.mo.us/mtbe/homemtbe.htm
Missouri Department of Natural Resources---speaks in plain english
http://www.cleanestwater.com/news/MTBEMethyl%20Tert%20Butyl%20Ether-1-20-2003.asp
From a water filterers perspective
http://www.energy.ca.gov/mtbe/
Energy Commission MTBE Study
http://www.the-innovation-group.com/ChemProfiles/MTBE.htm
who makes MTBE, and how much
http://ca.water.usgs.gov/mtbe/fs20396/
How it spreads in water
http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/~ahg/pubs/Atmos02.pdf
How it spreads in air---very science vocabulary intense
http://www.efoa.org/mtbe/pdf/appendix17.pdf
the EFOA MSDS, change appendix# for more pages
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