a-Hydroxyisobutyric Acid is a toxic breakdown product related to MTBE.
What is MTBE?
Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is a flammable liquid that has been used as an additive for unleaded gasoline since the 1980s. MTBE increases octane and oxygen levels in gasoline and reduces pollution emissions. Because of concerns for groundwater contamination and water quality, MTBE is now banned or limited in several states. MTBE is also used in small amounts as a laboratory solvent and for some medical applications.
How might you be exposed to methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE)?
- Touching the skin or breathing contaminated air while pumping gasoline.
- Breathing exhaust fumes while driving a car.
- Breathing air near highways or in cities.
- Drinking, swimming, or showering in water that has been contaminated with MTBE.
- Receiving MTBE treatment for gallstones.
How MTBE Affects People’s Health
The human health effects from MTBE at low environmental doses are unknown. Animal studies involving high doses of MTBE have shown effects such as skin and eye irritation.
References:
Understand and improve your laboratory results with our health dashboard.
Upload your lab reports and get your interpretation today.
Our technology helps to understand, combine, track, organize, and act on your medical lab test results.
Potential intervention:
- Avoidance of MTBE
- Carbon-water filter
- Hydration
- Antioxidants
The detoxification markers, like a-Hydroxyisobutyric Acid, reflect increased exposure to environmental toxins, or up-regulation of detoxification pathways in response to stress. Collectively, when these markers are elevated:
1. Identify the source of toxin exposure.
2. Minimize or reduce exposure.
3. Consider the use of antioxidants, like glutathione, plus other nutrients and botanicals to support detoxification.
4. Helpful websites:
a. Tox Town https://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov
b. Environmental Working Group https://www.ewg.org
c. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov
Interpret Your Lab Results
Upload your lab report, and we'll interpret and provide you with recommendations today.
Get Started
Monthly plan
Annual plan
Own it for life
Our exclusive data entry service is a convenient way to get your results into your private dashboard. Simply attach an image or a file of your lab test results, and one of our qualified data entry team members will add the results for you. We support all sorts of files, whether PDFs, JPGs, or Excel. This service is excellent whether you have a lot of reports to upload or are too busy to do the data entry yourself.
We strive to make the data entry process easy for you. Whether by offering dozens of templates to choose from that pre-populate the most popular laboratory panels or by giving you instant feedback on the entered values. Our data entry forms are an easy, fast, and convenient way to enter the reports yourself. There is no limit on how many lab reports you can upload.
$15 /month
billed every month
Most popular
Data entry included
$79 /year
$6.60/month billed annually
Data entry included
$250 /once
own it for life
Are You a Health Professional?
Get started with our professional plan
Welcome to Healthmatters Pro.
Save time on interpreting lab results with the largest database of biomarkers online. In-depth research on any test at your fingertips, all stored and tracked in one place. Learn more
Pro Monthly Plus
for health professionals
$75 per month
At HealthMatters, we're committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We've put industry-leading security standards in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We use procedural, physical, and electronic security methods designed to prevent unauthorized people from getting access to this information. Our internal code of conduct adds additional privacy protection. All data is backed up multiple times a day and encrypted using SSL certificates. See our Privacy Policy for more details.
2-Hydroxyphenylacetic Acid, 3-Hydroxyisovaleric Acid, 3-Hydroxyphenylacetic Acid, 3-Hydroxypropionic Acid, 3-Methyl-4-OH-phenylglycol, 4-Hydroxyphenylacetic Acid, 5-OH-indoleacetic Acid, a-Hydroxyisobutyric Acid (from MTBE), a-Keto-b-Methylvaleric Acid, a-Ketoadipic Acid, a-Ketoglutaric Acid (AKG), a-Ketoisocaproic Acid, a-Ketoisovaleric Acid, a-Ketophenylacetic Acid (from Styrene), Adipic Acid, Arabinose, B-OH-B-Methylglutaric Acid (HMG), Benzoic Acid, Beta-OH-Butyric Acid (BHBA), Cis-Aconitic Acid, Citramalic Acid, Citric Acid, Dihydroxyphenylpropionic Acid (DHPPA), Formiminoglutamic Acid (FIGlu), Glutaric Acid, Hippuric Acid, Homogentisic Acid, Homovanillic Acid, Indoleacetic Acid (IAA), Isocitric Acid, Isovalerylglycine, Kynurenic / Quinolinic Ratio, Kynurenic Acid, Lactic Acid, Malic Acid, Methylmalonic Acid, Orotic Acid, Phenylacetic Acid (PAA), Pyroglutamic Acid, Pyruvic Acid, Quinolinic Acid, Suberic Acid, Succinic Acid, Tartaric Acid, Vanilmandelic Acid, Xanthurenic Acid
