The Automobile Industry
mmt® protects vehicle emission control systems from oil and lubricant-borne contaminants despite the automotive industry’s allegations that it might impair the performance of these systems. Behind this long-standing argument lie two fundamental issues. Oil companies wish to continue using mmt® as a safer and cost effective method of producing quality, high octane gasoline. On the other hand, automobile manufacturers want to minimise their new product development and testing costs, resulting with every new type of fuel or additive that might be utilised in their vehicles on the road.
As with mmt®, the automobile industry resists the use of certain blending components in gasoline and other fuels because the components do not meet the automobile industry’s internally created “Worldwide Fuel Charter” (WWFC) specifications. As a metallic additive, vehicle manufacturers oppose the use of mmt®. Although the automobile industry explains its fuel recommendations on the basis of vehicle performance issues, the fact remains that the design and testing of motor vehicles is made easier and less costly for vehicle manufacturers as the range of permissible fuel variability in use is lessened. While the reduction of testing and design costs may be a sensible objective for vehicle manufacturers, it entails the shifting of costs to the fuel refining industry which has the ultimate responsibility of providing acceptable fuels to consumers.
In short, mmt® as an octane-enhancer increases the range of fuels that must be accounted for by vehicle manufacturers when they design and test the vehicles they produce. This increase in fuel variation with its perceived cost implications for the automobile industry provides a clear financial incentive to seek tighter fuel specifications, including specifications that restrict use of MMT®.
In addition, many of the vehicle performance issues raised by vehicle manufacturers concerning the use of mmt® can be linked to vehicle design or manufacturing defects discovered by vehicle manufacturers through the evaluation of real-world performance of vehicles and later reported to appropriate regulatory authorities. Afton Chemical has long maintained that defects of these sorts, which have nothing to do with mmt®, must be accounted for when assessing real world vehicle performance so that the root cause of any impairment in performance is not unfairly and without technical substantiation attributed to mmt®. This focus on vehicle design and manufacturing defects appears to have engendered a degree of conflict with some sectors of the automobile industry sufficient to prompt adoption of fixed policy positions rather than evaluations based upon sound science. The manifestation of these positions is the automobile industry’s continued resistance to the use of mmt® despite the absence of any credible or convincing data supporting their claims or assertions.
But mmt®’s well-proven record of acceptable performance in consumer use, coupled with the results of the comprehensive test programs assessing mmt® that have prompted regulatory authorities around the globe to approve its use, clearly suggest that the automobile industry’s concerns about mmt® are unwarranted.
Environmental Agencies: Health & Safety
Health and Environmental organisations naturally take an interest in all aspects of the composition and use of fuels. Their concern is for the safest possible environment for people, and their duty is to assess any measurable impacts of such products. Around the world, governments, businesses, and individuals have long since decided that despite its inherent risks, combustion of gasoline is both necessary and acceptable. The use of mmt® in achieving this process is one of the safest (if not the safest) option when compared to all other alternatives for achieving higher octane standards.
As the most extensively tested additive in history, many independent studies have been carried out by government, health and environmental agencies including assessing data from areas where mmt® has been in use for many years. From these studies, mmt® has demonstrated no identifiable risk to public health or welfare. In this respect, Health Canada stated in 2001 that "It should be noted that the amount of scientific information on the neurotoxicology of and exposure to manganese is substantial compared to the equivalent information on the toxicity and potential exposures associated with some of the alternatives."
As a long established additive that improves gasoline combustion and provides a cost-effective benefit, mmt® is currently used in over 45 countries.