New Fuel Turning Heads--and Raising a Stink--in Phoenix : Technology: Health officials maintain that new anti-pollution fuel smells, but is relatively safe. Some ailing motorists disagree.

It stinks but it won’t hurt you, state health officials say of MTBE, the ether-based blended fuel used by a majority of Phoenix motorists under a seasonal anti-pollution program.

“We’ve gotten a number of complaints from people who do not like the smell--who find the fumes objectionable. We’ve not gotten any reports of illness,” said Nancy Wrona, assistant director for air quality with the state Department of Environmental Quality.

However, motorists have complained to their doctors that breathing the fumes when filling their vehicles’ tanks have given them headaches or chest pains, made them cough or feel lightheaded, said Jerry Spellman, director of community relations for the Arizona Lung Assn.

“It seems the ether content is affecting people with respiratory problems,” he said.

“The Arizona Lung Assn. says until we know more about the effects of these fuels, we recommend that if you do have a lung or heart condition, have someone else pump your gas for you,” Spellman said.

Doug Burkard, vice president of service for Calzona Tankways Inc., a company that delivers gasoline to many Phoenix-area service stations, said some of his drivers initially complained of headaches.

“They’re not on a continuous basis, and now that the weather has cooled down, it seemed to subside,” Burkard said.

MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, is one of two types of blended fuels the state has ordered Maricopa County’s service stations to sell from October to April in an attempt to reduce the amount of pollution trapped over Phoenix during the winter temperature inversion.

California-based Arco and Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Giant Industries Inc. are selling ethanol, which is a grain alcohol. State officials said they have received no complaints about ethanol fumes.

In Colorado, where three-fourths of that state’s drivers are entering their third winter using oxygenated fuels, there have been “only a handful” of complaints about the smell, said Kim Livo, an air pollution control specialist with the Colorado Department of Health’s air pollution control division.

“We have never had a problem with MTBE in Colorado. It’s worked out very well with us,” Livo said from Denver. “It does have a very distinct odor, however, it’s an odor you get accustomed to very quickly.”

“I’d like to compare that smell to the odor they put in natural gas (which by itself is odorless),” Livo said. “MTBE is very much like that in gasoline. It lets you know there are gasoline vapors present.”

Both Livo and Norm Petersen, chief of the Arizona Department of Health Services’ risk assessment and investigation office, said ether doesn’t have long-lasting effects on people, unlike benzine, a carcinogen found in gasoline, which builds up in a person’s system.

“Gasoline by itself is not the most benign creature. Gasoline is a very toxic substance and your MTBE is one of the least toxic substances found in it,” Livo said.

“A person filling up (his) car, exposed to vapors (he) can smell, (is) still only being exposed to one-tenth of 1% the concentration (of ether) needed to have any effects such as nausea or drowsiness,” Livo said.

“I think if you get a headache from smelling MTBE vapors, you’re getting a headache from gasoline vapors you can’t smell,” he said.

“I’m not saying you can’t get a headache from MTBE,” Livo said. “For some people, it’s like a loud noise. If something irritates you, you can get a headache. It’s not the substance causing it, it’s the irritation.”

Petersen said his office has received only one report of illness. The caller complained that the fuel caused an asthma attack, but Petersen said, “There’s no way to prove that was the trigger.”

In addition, although the smell is similar, the ether used in MTBE isn’t the kind used as an anesthetic, which is ethyl ether.

Methyl ether has been used in fuels since oil companies started taking the lead out of gasoline, Petersen said. “Considering it’s been in use for some time, I have received no warnings from the (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”

Petersen did say, however, “It’s not a pleasant smell, although some people find ether pleasant-smelling.”

“I haven’t heard any complaints from any of the stations,” said Brent Crosby, executive director of the Service Station Dealers Assn. of Arizona.

“We’ve been very pleased by how the program is going,” Crosby said. “In our opinion it seems to be a better fuel--cars seem to run better on it.”

“I don’t think this is anything out of the ordinary because people are sensitive to different things, different chemicals,” Crosby said.

Louis Brewer, assistant manager for A-1 Equipment Co. in Tucson, said his employees hadn’t reported any problems with MTBE fumes. He said A-1 builds and repairs service stations statewide.