Mtbe And The Environment
...Act of 1970 requiring areas across the country with the worst air pollution problems to use reformulated gasoline (Medlin A371). This gasoline included an oxygenator, compounds added to the fuel designed to reduce tailpipe emissions of carbon monoxide. The most common oxygenator is MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether). On March 20, 2000 the EPA announced the phase out of MTBE (Environment 197). In this report we will give some details about the history of MTBE and point out some of the reasons why the EPA reversed its position concerning this controversial compound.
Most Californians had never even heard of MTBE, and had no idea that it was a component of the fuel that they were putting into their vehicles, until recently when the media started publishing articles of the effects of its use across the country. MTBE is made from methanol and isobutylene, it has been used as an additive in fuel since the early 1970's when gas companies started using it to replace lead and boost octane. Until 1980 it was mostly in premium grade gasoline at concentrations of three percent or less.
Since the air quality standards set in the Clean Air Act of 1970 have continually not been met, the standard has been revised several times. One of the requirements of the Clean Air Act of 1990 was that the thirty-eight cities with the worst carbon monoxide problems were required to add oxygen to their fuels. Oxygen was added in the form of alcohol or ether (Nebel and Wright 546). The most popular choices of the gas companies were ethanol and MTBE. Both of the substances are supposed to work the same, injecting oxygen into the gasoline allowing it to burn hotter (Moolenarr and Hefflin 402) thus releasing less unburned fuel (carbon monoxide) out of the tailpipe and into the atmosphere. The states with offending cities had until 1992 to comply with the new requirements. Many of them (like...
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