Quantities in Chemical Reactions

Road salts are used a lot especially in Canada for safety purposes for our harsh winters. But as much good as they are doing, they are also causing harm to our environment. The chloride ions that are found in the road salts are doing much of the damage as they dehydrate plants, can kill small aquatic animals and can reduce the water circulation in lakes that is needed to help aerate the water. There have been discussions about different methods we can use to help the environment but that can also keep our roads and sidewalks safe in the wintertime. Substitutes like potassium acetate can be used but are several times more expensive compared to the salt so, in this article we discuss the method called anti-icing where the salt solutions are being sprayed out before the actual storm hits which prevents the roads form freezing in the first place and making sure that the salt is wet beforehand allowing it to stay where it is sprayed without it bouncing around into unwanted areas such as grass or nearby streams causing less damage to the environment but also keeping us safe. Road salts are mandatory for our safety and when used properly, could be much less harmful to the environment. I personally think that keeping our roads safe but keeping our environment safe is just as important. As a dog-owner, we are very careful with the salts we use on our driveway as it gets very slippery in the winter and road salts have been heard to harm dog’s paws. Of course, there is no perfect way but with being a little bit more picky with the type and quality of salt we buy and only using it when it is completely necessary, it does feel like we are doing something to help, although it really isn’t much.

Do you think there is a better way to protect the environment and ourselves? Do you think there’s one that’s more important than the other?

Article: http://news.discovery.com/autos/salt-roads-environment-technology.htm