ABSTRACT
In Europe, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) has developed into an important organic, high- production-volume chemical since its introduction into gasolines in the late 1970s and mid- 1980s. MTBE was introduced as an octane booster to replace leaded compounds that had to be reduced in gasolines at that time. Unlike in Europe, MTBE is used to a greater extent in the U.S. because the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments require fuel oxygenates, such as MTBE or ethanol, to be added to gasoline used in some metropolitan areas to reduce atmospheric concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) or ozone (O3). However, recent reports on drinking water contaminations in the U.S. (Squillace et al., 1996; Reuter et al., 1998) have raised concerns whether those compounds that help reduce air pollution may, on the other hand, result in severe problems as a groundwater pollutant. Alarmed by the discussion in the U.S., European environmental protection agencies are reviewing their position on MTBE, and new measurement campaigns are currently being initiated. In this chapter, environmental data and policies toward MTBE are reviewed for a number of European countries and are compared to the situation in the U.S.
