| Abstract: | This article describes the progression of gasoline additives and the environmental and health effects of the preferred gasoline additives. It discusses the need for gasoline additives, the circumstances leading to tetra-ethyl lead becoming the first gasoline additive instead of ethanol, the regulation of automobile emissions leading to the phase-out of leaded gasoline, the introduction of oxygenates such as methyl tert-butyl ether to reduce ozone concentrations in urban areas, and the reasons for banning methyl tert-butyl ether, which resulted in ethanol becoming the preferred additive today. |
