Methyl tert-butyl alcohol (MTBE) is a gasoline additive that is also a common groundwater contaminant because of its high water solubility and the tendency of underground storage tanks to leak. Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) are gasoline components that commonly co-occur with MTBE at the source of a spill. Biodegradation is an attractive treatment option for MTBE, however, tw...

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is added to gasoline to reduce carbon monoxide and ozone precursors from automobile emissions. The objectives of this study were to verify the ability of a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model to predict MTBE blood levels in humans and to investigate the effect of variability in the metabolism of MTBE and its influence on the predicted MTBE blood lev...

There is a discrepancy between in vitro cholesterol dissolving efficacy of methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and ethyl propionate and cholesterol gall stone dissolution in vivo. This study investigated whether the presence of bile changes the cholesterol dissolving capacity of MTBE and ethyl propionate. The addition of dimethylsulphoxide to MTBE or ethyl propionate was also studied to discover if ...

Methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) is a synthetic chemical that was historically used as an octane booster additive to gasoline. Increasingly there have been concerns about its toxicity and potential carcinogenicity. Because of these concerns, 18 states regulate MTBE levels in groundwater and 17 have banned its use in gasoline. Because of its chemical characteristics, MTBE contaminated sites ar...

To manage risk or to implement natural attenuation as a remedy, regulatory agencies must understand the processes that attenuate methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in ground water. Most case studies and laboratory studies in the literature indicate that natural biodegradation is not important; however, recent reports indicate that natural biodegradation of MTBE plays an important role under certain...

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is a widespread groundwater contaminant that does not respond well to conventional treatment technologies. Growing evidence indicates that microbial communities indigenous to groundwater can degrade MTBE under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Although pure cultures of microorganisms able to degrade or cometabolize MTBE have been reported, to date the specific org...

We have isolated a mixed bacterial culture (BC-1) which is capable of degrading the gasoline oxygenate methyl t-butyl ether (MTBE). BC-1 was developed from seed microorganisms present in a chemical plant biotreater sludge. This enrichment culture has been maintained in continuous culture treating high concentrations of MTBE (120 to 200 mg/liter) as the sole carbon source in a simple feed contai...

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) has been used in many countries as an octaneenhancing replacement for lead, primarily in midand high-grade gasoline. The prevalent use of MTBE has led to its introduction into environment. MTBE is poorly adsorbed, biologically and chemically stable, making it very persistent in the environment. MTBE has been classified as a possible human carcinogen. Many studies ...

The potential for aerobic methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) degradation was investigated with microcosms containing aquifer sediment and groundwater from four MTBE-contaminated sites characterized by oxygen-limited in situ conditions. MTBE depletion was observed for sediments from two sites (e.g., 4.5 mg/liter degraded in 15 days after a 4-day lag period), whereas no consumption of MTBE was observ...