Gasoline ether oxygenates in UK groundwater

In UK, the Soil Water & Waste Working Group of the Energy Institute reports on the potential groundwater risk from spills of ether additives to gasoline. These additives comprise MTBE, ETBE, TAME and DIPE (di-isopropylether) to enhance octane quality in place of TEL and benzene. Ethers are more mobile than gasoline hydrocarbons in groundwater because they are soluble in water, less biodegradable and sorb less strongly. Although MTBE was reported in the groundwater of 70% of the gasoline filling stations where it was sought, they were mostly below 50 µg/L, well below the 200 µg/L threshold of taste and odour. Instances of detection of MTBE in Public Water Supply wells above the taste and odour threshold are rare. The use of GC-mass spectrometry, rather than gas chromatography, is recommended to measure ethers.