Since MTBE and TBA can be readily absorbedby plants because of their high solubility in water, the seedlinggrowth was found to be a sensitive endpoint. The seed ger-mination was not significantly reduced in the oxygenate-con-taminated soil (data not shown), which indicates that seedlinggrowth may be a better indicator of how a plant may be affectedby a chemical stressor than seed ger mination in oxygenate-contaminated soil.