Toxicity of methyl tert-butyl ether to plants (Avena sativa, Zea mays, Triticum aestivum, and Lactuca sativa).

Influence of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) on the germination of seeds and growth of seedling plants were studied in laboratory experiments. Test plants were wild oats (Avena sativa), sweet corn (Zea mays), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and lettuce (Lactuca sativa). Seed germination, shoot growth, and root growth of plants exposed to different concentrations of MTBE in a moist soil were examined. Seed germination and seedling growth in MTBE-contaminated soil were markedly reduced in all test plants. The median lethal concentration values for seed germination tests and the median effective concentration values for shoot or root growth were calculated. The values for lettuce, wild oats, wheat, and sweet corn were in the range of 18 to 91, 362 to 459, 432 to 751, and 672 to 964 mg MTBE/kg soil as dry weight, respectively. Lettuce was most sensitive to MTBE, followed (in order of decreasing sensitivity) by wild oats, wheat, and sweet corn. Because MTBE can be readily absorbed by plants due to its high solubility in water, plant growth was a more sensitive endpoint than seed germination. Shoot length was more reduced in MTBE-contaminated soil than was the root length, which indicated that MTBE might be transported within the plant from the roots to the shoots.