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U.S. Department of the Interior - U.S. Geological Survey
National Water Quality Assessment Program
Fact Sheet FS-203-96 (Revised 2/98)

Environmental Behavior and Fate of Methyl tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE)

By Paul J. Squillace, James F. Pankow, Nic E. Korte, and John S. Zogorski


References Cited

Ainsworth, S., 1992, Oxygenates seen as hot market by industry: Chemical Engineering News, v. 70, p. 26-30.

Alexander, Martin, 1981, Biodegradation of chemicals of environmental concern: Science, v. 211, no. 9, p. 132-138.

Barker, J.F., Gillham, R.W., Lemon, L., Mayfield, C.I., Poulsen, M., and Sudicky, E.A., 1991, Chemical fate and impact of oxygenates in groundwater--Solubility of BTEX from gasoline--Oxygenate Compounds: Washington, D.C., American Petroleum Institute Publication 4531, 90 p.

Begley, Ronald, and Rotman, David, 1993, Health complaints fuel federal concern over MTBE: Chemical Week, v. 152, no. 10, p. 7.

Butillo, J.V., Pulido, A.D., Reese, N.M., and Lowe, M.A., 1994, Removal efficiency of MTBE in water--Confirmation of a predictive model through applied technology, in Proceedings of the Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Organic Chemicals in Ground Water section of the Prevention, Detection, and Remediation Conference, Houston, Texas, November 2-4, 1994: Dublin, Ohio, National Ground Water Association, p. 91-105.

Cirvello, J.D., Radovsky, Ann, Heath, J.E., Farnell, D.R., and Lindamood, Charles, 1995, Toxicity and carcinogenicity of t-butyl alcohol in rats and mice following chronic exposure in drinking water: Toxicology and Industrial Health, v. 11, no. 2, p. 151-166.

Daniel, R.A., 1995, Intrinsic bioremediation of BTEX and MTBE--Field, laboratory and computer modeling studies: Raleigh, North Carolina State University, Department of Engineering, Masters Thesis, 325 p.

Delzer, G.C., Zogorski, J.S., Lopes, T.J., and Bosshart, R.L., 1996, Occurrence of the gasoline oxygenate MTBE and BTEX compounds in urban stormwater in the United States, 1991-95: U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Report 96-4145, 6 p.

Fujiwara, Yasuo, Kinoshita, Tatsuo, Sato, Hiroshi, and Kojima, Ichiro, 1984, Biodegradation and bioconcenrrarion of alkylethers: Yukaguku, v. 33, p. 111-114.

Garrett, Peter, Moreau, Marcel, and Lowry, J.D., 1986, MTBE as a ground water contaminant: in Proceedings of the 1986 National Water Well Association and American Petroleum Institute Conference on Petroleum and Organic Chemicals in Ground Water, Houston, Texas: Dublin Ohio, National Water Well Association, p. 227-238.

Groundwater Technology Inc., 1990, A compilation of field-collected cost and treatment effectiveness data for the removal of dissolved gasoline components from groundwater, November 1990: Washington, D.C., American Petroleum Publication no. 4525, 240 p.

Howard, P.H., Sage, G.W., Jarvis, W.F., and Gray, D.A., 1990, Handbook of environmental fate and exposure data for organic chemicals--Volume IV: Chelsea, Mich., Lewis Publishers, Inc., 578 p.

Howard, C.J., Russell, Armistead, Atlkinson, Roger, Calvert, Jack, 1996, Air quality benefits of the winter oxyfuel program: Washington D.C., Office of Science and Technology Policy, 91 p.

International Technology Corporation, 1991, Cost-effective, alternative treatment technologies for reducing the concentrations of ethers and alcohols in groundwater: Washington, D.C., American Petroleum Institute Publication no. 4497, 220 p.

Jensen, H.S., and E. Arvin, 1990, Solubility and degradability of the gasoline additive MTBE, methyl-tert-butyl-ether and gasoline compounds in water: in Arendt, F., Hinsenveld, M., and van den Brink, W.J., eds., Contaminated Soil '90: Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Kluwer Academic Publishers, p. 445-448.

Mackay, Donald, Shiu, G.W.Y., and Ma, K.C., 1992, Illustrated handbook of physical-chemical properties and environmental fate for organic chemicals--Monoaromatic hydrocarbons, chlorobenzenes, and PCBs--Volume I: Chelsea, Mich., Lewis Publishers, 697 p.

______ 1993, Illustrated handbook of physical-chemical properties and environmental fate for organic chemicals--volatile organic chemicals--Volume III: Chelsea, Mich., Lewis Publishers Inc., 916 p.

Mo, K., Lora, C.O., Wanken, A., and Kulpa, C.F., 1995, Biodegradation of methyl-t-butyl ether by pure bacterial cultures: American Society of Microbiology, 95th General Meeting, Washington, D.C., May 8-12, p. 408.

Mormile, M.R., Liu, Shi, and Suflita, J.M., 1994, Anaerobic biodegradation of gasoline oxygenates: extrapolation of information to multiple sites and redox conditions: Environmenral Science and Technology, v. 28, p. 1727-1732.

Odermatt, J.R., 1994, Natural chromatographic separation of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX compounds) in a gasoline contaminated ground water aquifer: Organic Chemistry, v. 21, no. 10/11, p. 1141- 1150.

Pankow, J.F, Rathbun, R.E., and Zogorski, J.S., 1996, Calculated volatilization rates of fuel oxygenate compounds and other gasoline-related compounds from rivers and streams: Chemosphere, v. 33, no. 5, p. 921-937.

Poulsen, Mette, Lemon, Lloyd, and Barker, J.F., 1992, Dissolution of monoaromatic hydrocarbons into groundwater from gasoline-oxygenate mixtures: Environmental Science & Technology, v. 26, no. 12, p. 2483-2489.

Robbins, G.S., Wang, Suya., and Stuart, J.D., 1993, Using the static headspace method to determine Henry's Law constants: Analytical Chemistry, v. 65, no. 21, p. 3113-3118.

Salanitro, J.P., Diaz, L.A., Williams, M.P., and Wisniewski, H.L., 1994, Isolation of a bacterial culture that degades methyl t-butyl ether: Applied and Environmental Microbiology, v. 60, no. 7, p. 2593-2596.

Schnoor, J.L. Sato, Chikashi, Mckechnie, Deborah, Dipak, Sahoo, 1987, Processes, coefficients, and models for simulating toxic organics and heavy metals in surface waters: Athens, Georgia, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 303 p.

Shelly, Suzanne, and Fouhy, Ken, 1994, The drive for cleaner burning fuel: Chemical Engineering, January, p. 61-63.

Smith, D.F., Kleindienst, T.E., Hudgens, E.E., McIver, C.D., and Buffalini, J.J., 1991, The photo-oxidation of methyl tertiary butyl ether: International Journal of Chemistry Kinetics, v. 23, p. 907-924.

Squillace, P.J., Zogorski, J.S., Wilber, W.G., and Price, C.V., 1996, Preliminary assessment of the occurrence and possible sources of MTBE in groundwater in the United States, 1993-1994: Environmental Science and Technology, v. 30, no. 5, p. 1721-1730.

Squillace, P.J., Pankow, J.E., Korte, N.E., and Zogorski, J.S., 1997, Review of the environmental behavior and fate of methyl tert-butyl ether: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, v.16, no. 9, p. 1836-1844.

Suflita, J.M., and Mormile, M.R., 1993, Anaerobic biodegradation of known and potential gasoline oxygenates in the terrestrial subsurface: Environmental Science and Technology, v. 27, p. 976-978.

Thomas, J.M., Clark, G.L., Tomson, M.B., Bedient, P.B., Rifai, H.S., and Ward, C.H., 1988, Environmental fate and attenuation of gasoline components in the subsurface: Washington, D.C., American Petroleum Institute, final report, p. 111.

Truong, K.N., and Parmele, C.S., 1992, Cost-effective alternative treatment technologies for reducing the concentrations of methyl tertiary butyl ether and methanol in groundwater: Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soils and Groundwater, v. 27, no. 2, p. 461-486.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1994, Health risk perspective on fuel oxygenates: Washington, D.C., Office of Research and Development, EPA 600/R-94/217. Office of Research and Development, December, 101 p.

______ 1997, Drinking water advisory--Consumer acceptability advice and health effects analysis on methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE): EPA822-F-97-009, Office of Water, 34 p.

Wallington, T.J., Dagaut, Philippe, Liu, Renzhang, and Kurylo, M.J., 1988, Gas-phase reactions of hydroxyl radicals with the fuel additives methyl tert-butyl ether and tert-butyl alcohol over the temperature range 240-440 K: Environmental Science and Technology, v. 22, p. 842-844.

Yeh, C.K., and J.T. Novak, 1991, Anaerobic biodegradation of oxygenates in the subsurface, in Proceedings of the 1991 Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Organic Chemicals in Ground Water--Prevention, Detection and Restoration, November 20-22, 1991, Houston, Texas: National Water Well Association, Ground Water Management Book, p. 427-441.

______ 1994, Anaerobic biodegradation of gasoline oxygenates in soils: Water Environment Research, v. 66. no. 5. p. 744-752.

______ 1995, The effect of hydrogen peroxide on the degradation of methyl and ethyl tert-butyl ether in soils: Water Environment Research. v. 67, no. 5. p. 828-834.

Zogorski, J.S., and others, 1997, Fuel oxygenates and water quality, in Interagency Assessment of Oxygenated Fuels: Washington D.C., Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President, chap. 2, 80 p.


Additional information on NAWQA and other U.S. Geological Survey programs can be found by accessing the NAWQA "home page" on the World Wide Web at http://wwwrvares.er.usgs.gov/nawqa/naqwa_home.html.

For more information, contact:
Paul Squillace
U.S. Geological Survey
1608 Mountain View Rd.
Rapid City, SD 57702
(605) 394-1780 (ext. 239)
pjsquill@usgs.gov

U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey
Fact Sheet FS-203-96


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