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CO-OCCURRENCE OF METHYL- TERT-BUTYL ETHER (MTBE) AND BTEX COMPOUNDS AT MARINAS IN A LARGE RESEVOIR
Citation:
Kampbell*, D H., M L. Cook*, AND Y. An. CO-OCCURRENCE OF METHYL- TERT-BUTYL ETHER (MTBE) AND BTEX COMPOUNDS AT MARINAS IN A LARGE RESEVOIR. Special Issue, JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING 128(9):902-906, (2002).
Description:
Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is released into the environment as one of some gasoline components, not as a pure compound. BTEX compounds (benzene, tolune, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) are major volatile constituents found in gasoline and are water soluble and mobile. This study focused on the occurrence of MTBE with BTEX compounds in several marinas in Lake Texoma, which is a large reservoir located on the Oklahoma and Texas border. During a monitoring period from June 1999 to July 2001, MTBE and BTEX were detected in 28% and 5% of samples analyzed, respectively. MTBE co-occurred with BTEX compounds in 15% of lake water samples when detectable MTBE was present. Relatively low co-occurrence (15%) of MTBE with BTEX compounds is primarily due to the volume percentage in gasoline mixture and physicochemical properties such as water solubility and Henry's law constant. Toluene was the most commonly coo-occurring BTEX with MTBE. Values of the ratios of the BTEX concentration to the MTBE concentration generally increase with depth of water.