Five aerobic enrichments efficient at degrading methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) under different substrate conditions were developed in well-mixed reactors containing a polyethlene porous pot for biomass retention. The five substrate conditions were as follows: MTBE alone; MTBE and diethyl ether (DEE); MTBE and diisopropyl ether (DIPE); MTBE and ethanol (EtOH); and MTBE with benzene, toluene, eth...

Methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) is a gasoline oxygenate that is widely used throughout the US and Europe as an octane-booster and as a means of reducing automotive carbon monoxide (CO) emissions. The combustion by-products of pure MTBE have been evaluated in previous laboratory studies, but little attention has been paid to the combustion by-products of MTBE as a component of gasoline. MTBE ...

Methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) was measured in air samples collected at hourly intervals near Blodgett Forest Research Station on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, California, in July 1997, October 1998, and June through September 1999. Mixing ratios ranged from below the detection limit (< approximately 0.01 ppbv) to 0.5 ppbv, but were generally less than 0.3 ppbv. At these mixing ra...

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 tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) rapidly dissolves cholesterol gall stones in vitro and in vivo. To further characterise tolerability and safety of this aliphatic ether, either MTBE (1 ml/kg body wt daily for two days) or an equal amount of saline was infused into the common bile duct (CBD) of eight cholecystectomised rabbits. Transient vomiting, dyspnoea and somnolence developed during MTBE ...

The widespread use of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) has caused major contamination of groundwater sources and is a concern due to its taste and odor problems, as well as its toxicity. MTBE can be degraded anaerobically which makes bioremediation of contaminated aquifers a potential solution. Nevertheless, the organisms and mechanisms that are responsible for anaerobic MTBE degradation are stil...

We have been studying an MTBE plume at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA. Microcosm studies with site sediments, conducted at the University of California at Davis and the University of Waterloo, suggest that native aerobic MTBE-degrading bacteria are present in the site sediments and can be stimulated to degrade MTBE solely by adding oxygen. In two separate field tests, dissolved oxygen has been r...

MTBE is found in water supplies used for drinking and other purposes. These experiments follow up on earlier reports of reproductive tract alterations in male mice exposed orally to MTBE and explored oxidative stress as a mode of action. CD-1 mice were gavaged with 400-2000 mg/kg MTBE on days 1, 3, and 5, injected i.p. with hCG (2.5 IU/g) on day 6, and necropsied on day 7. No effect was seen in...

The current investigation was conducted to report on the phytotoxicity of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) to common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Nebraska) plants. The two-week-old potted plants were subjected to four weekly soil applications of aqueous MTBE concentrations (0, 1, 10, 25 and 50 ml L(-1)). The root growth, flower and pod development were more sensitive to MTBE treatments; while,...