Methyl_Tertiary_Butyl_Ether.

Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether. MTBE Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether. The word sounds like it’s foreign. It might even sound like it is out of that nerd in highschool’s chemistry book, but it is becoming as common as wildfires in Redding. Until about seven years ago, when it was first introduced into our lives, many American’s had never even heard the word methyl tertiary butyl ether. Now, with all of it’s controversy and Record Searchlight headlines, most people know that it is an additive in our gasoline that helps oxygenate the fuel and reduce emissions when the fuel is burned. Although very few know all of the details about MTBE. This chemical, that was supposed to be the cure to global warming, also has been found to contaminate our precious ground water and is possibly a carcinogen. This pollution is what all of the yelling and screaming in the state and federal legislatures has been about. Seven years ago methyl tertiary butyl ether was found, when mixed with gasoline or diesel, to reduce emissions. It would reduce emissions by oxygenating the gas and burning cleaner. This cleaner burning fuel quickly led to the phase in of the new chemical mtbe, gasoline, clean, tertiary, ether, butyl, air, methyl, should, health, found, emissions, about, water, reduce, out, fuel, environmental, environment, chemical, burning, been, additive, years, word, while, through, state, sediment, researchers, reformulated, quality, protection, popularity, phase