The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has named 14 persons to serve on an advisory committee to study issues posed by the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether and other oxygenates in gasoline.
Carol Browner, EPA administrator, said, "While MTBE and other oxygenates in gasoline have improved air quality for millions of Americans, I am convening a blue-ribbon panel of experts to better understand public health concerns that have been raised by the discovery of MTBE in some water bodies."
Daniel Greenbaum, president of the Health Effects Institute, Cambridge, Mass., will chair the panel. One of the members will be Robert Campbell, chairman, president, and CEO of Sunoco Inc. (formerly Sun Co. Inc.).
Panel mandate
The panel, working under the EPA's Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, will examine the role of oxygenates in gasoline and evaluate each product's efficiency in providing clean-air benefits (OGJ, Nov. 9, 1998, p. 36).
It will assess the behavior of oxygenates in the environment, review any known health effects, compare the cost of production and use, and estimate each product's present and future availability.
It also will study the causes of groundwater and drinking water contamination from motor vehicle fuels and explore prevention and cleanup technologies for water and soil.
The panel is due to report to EPA within 6 months with findings and recommendations.
The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments require the use of emissions-reducing oxygenated fuels in areas failing to meet national health standards. The law did not specify which oxygenates are to be used in making cleaner-burning gasoline. Refiners frequently use MTBE or ethanol in gasolines.
Refining industry study
In a separate but related action, the EPA also ordered the refining industry to begin a program required by the Clean Air Act to assess the potential health effects associated with all gasolines and gasoline additives-conventional gasoline as well as gasoline that has been reformulated with oxygenates and other additives by manufacturers.
EPA said the data will help it understand the health risks associated with exposure to automotive fuels.
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