The U.S. ethanol fuel industry has experienced preferential treatment from federal and state governments ever since the Energy Tax Act of 1978 exempted 10% ethanol/gasoline blend (gasohol) from the federal excise tax. Combined with a 54 ¢/gal ethanol import tariff, this exemption was designed to provide incentives for the establishment and development of a U.S. ethanol industry. Despite these t...

Bank filtration of river or lake water represents an efficient and natural purification process used for the drinking water production in many countries and at an amount of about 15-16% in Germany. From experiences over decades particularly at the river Rhine and Elbe, it is known that the occurrence of persistent pollutants in river water can represent a problem for the quality of drinking wat...

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) has been used as a common gasoline additive worldwide since the late twentieth century, and it has become the most frequently detected groundwater pollutant in many countries. This study aimed to synthesize a novel microbial carrier to improve its adsorptive capacity for MTBE and biofilm formation, compared to the traditional granular activated carbon (GAC). A pol...

-Macrophages have been isolated from ascitic and collagenase-dispersed tumours from patients undergoing surgery for ovarian cancer. Macrophages were present in varying proportions in both sites, though the ratio of macrophages to tumour cells was higher in ascites. Marked variation in size (as detected by sedimentation velocity) and cytochemical markers in the macrophages was noted. Highly enri...

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) has been the focus of much attention because it is used in large amounts and was reportedly relatively recalcitrant to bioremediation or natural attenuation. Beginning with a few papers a decade ago, evidence has been presented that, in fact, under suitable conditions it is amenable to bioremediation. Many species from widely disparate microbial genera are able to...

The contamination of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in underground waters has become a widely concerned problem all over the world. In this study, a novel closed culture system with oxygen supplied by H2O2 was introduced for MTBE aerobic biodegradation. After 7 d, almost all MTBE was degraded by a pure culture, a member of beta-Proteobacteria named as PM1, in a closed system with oxygen supply,...

In response to the 1990 Clean Air Act, oxygenators such as MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) were added to fuels in concentrations up to 15% in order to reduce carbon monoxide pollution. It was only when acute health complaints-an increase in headaches, nausea, and eye, nose, and throat irritations-surfced following this increase in MTBE use that researchers began to study the possible health ...

The use of ETBE (ethyl-tert-butylether) as gasoline additive has recently grown rapidly. Contamination of aquatic systems is well documented for MTBE (methyl-tert-butylether), but less for other gasoline additives. Due to their mobility they may easily reach drinking water collection areas. Odour and flavour thresholds of MTBE are known to be low, but for ETBE and TAME (methyl-tert-amylether) h...