Results from two national surveys indicate that the gasoline
oxygenate methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) is one
of the most frequently detected volatile organic compounds
in source waters used by community water systems in the
United States. Three other ether oxygenates were detected
infrequently but almost always co-occurred
with MTBE.
A random sampling of source waters across the United
States found MTBE in almost 9% of samples. In geographic
areas with high MTBE use, the compound was detected in 23%
of source water samples.
Although MTBE concentrations were low (<1 µg/L) in most
samples, some concentrations equaled or exceeded the drinking
water advisory of 20 µg/L set by the US Environmental Protection
Agency. The frequent detection of even low concentrations of
MTBE demonstrates the vulnerability of US source waters to
anthropogenic compounds, indicating a need to include MTBE in
monitoring programs to track the trend of contamination. Includes 35 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. 98 - No. 4 |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 810 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 14 |
| Published : | 04/01/2006 |
