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The compound methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) was blended in gasoline
originally in 1979 to serve as an oxygenate. This would theoretically cause the
combustion process in internally combustion engines to be more complete. This
effort to improve air quality by producing a fuel that was more readily oxidized
and decrease the resulting troposheric ozone production was somewhat effective.
A problem arises, however, in the fact that MTBE moves extremely well in water
(it may actually move upstream because of its high affinity for water
molecules), causes fish kills due to its toxicity to fish, and even at low
concentrations, it can render large surface or groundwater sources to be
useless. Its use has since been banned in California.
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