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Ice Stop
In recent years, both the City of Moscow and the Idaho Transportation
Department have adopted a new method of de-icing our streets and
highways. Instead of relying on traditional measures of applying sand
and basalt to control ice and snow, they have started using a new
anti-icing application called Ice-Stop.
According to manufacturer Reilly Industries, it is time-tested and
considered an environmentally safe alternative to conventional methods
of ice removal. Ingredients include magnesium chloride hexahydrate
(25-35%), water (65-75%) and a corrosion inhibitor (2500-3000
ppm). The Idaho
Transportation Department considers Ice-Stop less toxic than salt and tests
have shown that the proper application of magnesium chloride produces
no negative effects on ground water, surface water or vegetation. How
does it work? Magnesium chloride solution prevents frost, ice and snow
from bonding to the surface, but only when it is applied before
snowfall.
The manufacturer of this particular product states that it is less
corrosive than water; but how can that be? Peter G. Snow, a researcher at Burns
Concrete, Inc. of Idaho Falls, monitored the magnesium chloride
de-icer and found it to corrode concrete. In 2000-2001, corrosion was
10 times that of the previous 9 winters in Idaho Falls. Snow was able
to link the magnesium chloride de-icer to the scaling of the concrete
surfaces. He explained, "The magnesium ions accumulate and react with
the cementitious compound calcium-silicate-hydrate, converting it to
magnesium-silicate-hydrate (or a mineral called brucite), which is
non-cementitious in nature. In other words, a fundamental major
mineralogical product of solidified concrete has now been chemically
altered (completely changed). Formation of magnesium-silicate-hydrate
breaks down the "glue" that binds aggregates together and
concrete surfaces begin to deteriorate. The net effect is we now have a
chemical and physical attack that concrete is not designed to withstand,
nor be subjected."
To remedy this particular problem, the manufacturers have added a
corrosion inhibitor, but a joint study by the Colorado Transportation
Department and a National Trucking Association did not find the formula
to be effective. In addition, citing "proprietary privilege" the
manufacturer could not provide the environmental effects or actual
ingredients of this inhibitor. In the book Fateful Harvest, Duff Wilson
reveals that a subsidiary of the largest aluminum company in the world,
Alcoa, sells a toxic industrial waste as Ag-Mag, a fertilizer, and as
"Road Clear", a road deicer. As Wilson put it, "different labels, same
material." How do we know if this is or isn't in the liquid the City of
Moscow uses on our city streets. The manufacturer refuses to provide
this information.
 To get to the bottom of
this de-icer dilemma, PCEI contacted the Washington Toxics Coalition.
Doug Collins, an Information Specialist, brought up some interesting
points about liquid de-icers. First, the chemicals found in liquid
de-icers are more or less found in nature. Despite this fact, Collins
states, "Potential problems might occur due to their ability to
dehydrate organisms. . . . Changes in the conductivity (a measurement
of soluble ions in water) must certainly occur when these salts are
washed into waterways. These ions will then become available for plant
and phytoplankton growth and may contribute to eutrophication (increased
nutrients, leading to oxygen reduction in water)."
So what are the effects? There is no recorded data that proves the
eutrophication theory or that a change in conductivity will occur or
that there is toxic waste in this de-icer. What we do know is that
magnesium chloride allows toxic heavy metals in the soil to become
soluble. Studies on road salts prove that eutrophication does occur,
along with a plethora of other effects. Meanwhile, the manufacturer
does not want to let the public know what is in the corrosion
inhibitor. With these three things put together, there could be a
cause of concern for people, watersheds, and wildlife. |
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