Why are only some gasoline compounds restricted?
The less volatile hydrocarbons in gasoline are not released in significant quantities during normal use, and the more volatile alkanes are considerably less toxic than many other chemicals encountered daily. The newer gasoline additives also have potentially undesirable properties before they are even combusted. Most hydrocarbons are very insoluble in water, with the lower aromatics being the most soluble, however the addition of oxygen to hydrocarbons significantly increases the mutual solubility with water.
