ROAD SALT; HELPING OR HURTING?

As the cold season approaches,the roads and parking lots that  we use to travel will become slick with ice and snow. This creates dangerous conditions that may potentially cause harm to many. An unfortunate consequence to the cold, but there are solutions and ways to reduce this dubious predicament. That very solution would be road salt, also known as rock salt. 

WHAT SHOULD BE KEPT IN YOUR CAR DURING THE WINTER: JUMPER CABLES, WARM CLOTHES/BLANKET, FIRST AID, FOOD/WATER, FLASHLIGHT, BATTERIES, ETC.; GRAPHIC BY LILI NANDELL

Road salt is the chemical compound sodium chloride (NaCI), and is placed on our roads, parking lots, and walk ways to melt the snow and ice to prevent slipping. Road salt lowers the freezing point of water, making it more difficult for water to freeze, creating hazardous conditions. There is only one problem. Road salt only works when there is already a small amount of water present during applications. This is what creates the brine – a road salt and water mixture – that is commonly covering the ground when cold weather is forecasted. So as annoying as the gross wet slush is, the effectiveness of road salt preventing accidents and injuries is undeniable. The American Highway Users Alliance found that applying it to the roads reduces accidents up to 93%. 

However, there is a cost to the use of road salt. When we use too much, it runs off into our waterways and soils, eventually flowing into storm drains, which empty into rivers and streams. This is causing an increase in the saltiness of the freshwaters in our areas, hurting both organisms and the environment. Chemically, road salt, sodium chloride, breaks into separate sodium and chloride ions when dissolved in water. The chloride components impact the environment in many ways. 

Salt water is actually toxic to freshwater fish, amphibians, and other aquatic organisms.  Therefore, when the salt level elevates, major harm is caused to not only aquatic life, but our environment. It doesn’t take much to put into perspective, in a 5-gallon basin of water, full of aquatic life, it only takes half a teaspoon to harm the organisms living in the basin.

Chloride is a persistent pollutant, meaning once it enters the water, it cannot be removed. Due to many of our water irrigation and drinking systems being connected to local water basins, if chloride seeps into our water, it creates a problem concerning all of us. Too much salt being in our water can also lead to health problems for people, especially those who need to monitor their sodium levels. If chloride leaks into the groundwater, it can harm or even kill plants and crops in the surrounding area. In addition, it also ends up damaging the soil for the next generations of plants. This could harm not only animals, but us as a society. Whether our crops die or succeed, we consume chloride nutrient plants, our health is and will continue to decrease. 

Ironically we use road salt to melt the snow and ice on the road, to help prevent injuring people, overall to help. Turns out the chloride in road salt can actually harm the roads, as it is a corrosive substance that will rust metals, and deteriorate concrete. So while road salt appears to be helpful, is it truly doing more good or harm in the long run?