Writing Resources
Different deicers take different amounts of time to melt snow this experiment is being conducted in order to find the fastest and most eco friendly deicer that will replace road salt and itś harmful effects We toss more than 20 million tons of sodium chloride on our roadways every winter That s about 13 times more salt than is used by the entire food processing industry And when the snow and ice melts the salt washes away into lakes and streams and harms wildlife Researchers in Minnesota found that in the urban cities 70 of the salt from deicers stays within the area Once the salt gets there it is expensive to remove and even after it still leaves negative impacts by not only hurting the aquatic animals and plants but seeping into wells That in turn affects people on restricted sodium diets and doesn t taste the same One of the most harmful components of road salt is sodium chloride As previously mentioned sodium chloride harms our drinking water aquatic animals and plants and the atmosphere An estimated 40 percent of the country s streams have chloride levels that go beyond safe guidelines for aquatic life because of the negative impacts of road salt These high levels of sodium chloride affects how animals regulate the uptake of salt into their bodies and affects the water circulation in lakes and ponds that prevents oxygen from reaching the bottom of the water In addition it also interferes with a body of water s natural chemistry by lowering the necessary nutrients and therefore dehydrating and killing trees and plants That is why we want the purpose of our investigation to create safer alternatives to road salts using food waste that will be safer for the environment so we can find ways to melt snow and ice in an eco friendly way
