Co-Occurrence of MTBE and Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene Compounds at Marinas in Large Reservoir
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 128, Issue 9
Abstract
Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is released into the environment as one of some gasoline components, not as a pure compound. Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) compounds 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. Methyl tert-butyl ether co-occurred with BTEX compounds in 15% of lake water samples when detectable MTBE was present. The relatively low co-occurrence (15%) of MTBE with BTEX compounds is primarily due to the volume percentage in gasoline mixtures and physicochemical properties such as water solubility and Henry’s law constant. Toluene was the most commonly co-occurring BTEX with MTBE. Values of the ratios of the BTEX concentration to the MTBE concentration generally increase with depth of water.
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References
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Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 128 • Issue 9 • September 2002
Pages: 902 - 906
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 13, 2002
Accepted: Feb 14, 2002
Published online: Aug 15, 2002
Published in print: Sep 2002
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