Deciding on Deicers: Measuring the Efficiency of Deicers and Their Environmental Effects

The United States utilized approximately 15 billion kilograms of road salt during the winter of 2013-2014. Massachusetts requires vast amounts of road salt for winter storm preparation because the state alone averages about 44 inches of snow each year. While rock salt is affordable and commonly used to de-ice roads, it poses a hazard to the environment by raising salinity levels of nearby bodies of water and releases unwanted compounds like lead and iron into the ecosystem. Recently, many cities are veering away from rock salt and experimenting with other alternatives including calcium magnesium acetate and beet juice.

For this project, the deicing efficiency of 5 deicers: sodium chloride, calcium chloride (2 traditional deicers), calcium magnesium acetate (CMA), beet extract deicer (2 new deicers), and rock sand (control) was tested by measuring the amount of ice melted for every 15 minutes. The impact of these deicers on plant germination was also tested by measuring the grass length and counting the number of seeds grown on petri dishes. The hypotheses are: calcium chloride would be the most efficient deicer, melting the largest volume of ice within a certain amount of time and CMA would be the most environmental friendly deicer.

My hypothesis was proven incorrect. From my project, I found that beet extract was the most efficient at melting ice. Beet extract melted an average of 8.3 mL of water per 15 minutes, compared to CaCl2 which melted an average of 7.2 mL and the control which melted an average of 6.3 mL. Additionally, beet extract had the least impact on plant germination. After 12 days of germination, the average grass length of seeds germinated in the beet extract solution was 2.54 cm while the control average length was 2.69 cm. The average length of grass grown in CMA was 2.26 cm, the second closest length to the control.

Currently, there is no “perfect” deicing substance on the market because there are many must-have characteristics for one product. While some products are environmentally friendly, they are expensive and hard to manage at home and while others are inexpensive, they corrode automobiles and create slick conditions. As a result, the main goal is to find the best product depending on preference to cost, availability, and environmental effects. This project’s findings would help raise awareness and mindfulness of road salt usage and impact on the environment, as well as alternate deicing solutions. In addition, the findings could help scientists and local governments further research the chemicals used as deicers and the consequences they have on nature.

1 / 5

Growing up in Quincy, I had my fair share of snow, blizzards, and nor'easters.
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-the-best-deicer-3976106

2 / 5

Billions of tons of deicers are used as snowfall comes earlier and earlier each year.
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/environmental-effects-of-road-salt-1204123

3 / 5

A man salts the roads of Paris during a storm.
Source:https://www.thoughtco.com/why-does-salt-melt-ice-607896,

4 / 5

A man cleans his windshield
Source:https://www.thoughtco.com/deice-your-windshield-3976055,

5 / 5

During storms, many trucks are deployed prewetting and applying salts.
Source:https://www.thoughtco.com/chemical-composition-of-road-salt-609168

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the key findings of your project?

Beet extract was the most efficient at melting ice and has the least effect on plant germination among the five deicers tested. CMA is also efficient and friendly to the environment, however, cost and availability makes it hard for homeowners and governments to switch to using these environmentally friendly deicers. Findings from this project would help spread awareness and mindfulness of road salt usage and impact on the environment, and at the same time, address the need for further research by scientists and governments to find the best and perfect deicer that currently does not exist.

Why did you choose this project?

As a native Bostonian, I have had my fair share of snowstorms and blizzards and seen mountains of deicers either on the road, in buildings, and in my garage. I wanted to find out if the commonly used rock salt could perform as well as new deicers such as beet extract deicer and calcium magnesium acetate (the green or purple deicers you see on the sidewalk nowadays).

What would you do differently if you were given more time or resources?

If I were to repeat this experiment and was given more time or resources, I would test with larger samples and conditions more closely related to daily life such as testing in parking lots, garages, streets or lawns. My experiment was done indoors with the heat on, at a comfy room temperature. Additionally, I would test with a more controlled environment. An observation made during testing was that some ice in the containers were frozen on a slant and that affected the melting rates. With more resources, I would test other common deicers such as urea and potassium acetate.

Why did you choose the concentration of the deicer solutions to test?

I originally began with a 0.2M concentration for the deicing solutions based on my research. However, after 12 days of plant germination, none of the seeds in the chemical deicer solutions grew; only the seeds in the control and rock sand solutions germinated. I did some additional research and learned about the limit of sodium chloride in water runoff regulated by the EPA. I then repeated the experiment 4 more times with serial dilution until grass grew in all the petri dishes. The concentration of deicing solutions used was 0.0125M at the end.

Why was rock sand used as a control?

Rock sand is not technically a deicer because it does not use the colligative property to melt ice; instead, it is commonly used to increase traction on the sidewalks. Rock sand was used more as a control to compare grass growth with other deicers. Grass grown in the rock sand solution also had the longest average length. This is most likely due to the dirt or soil particles mixed in the rock sand used in the experiment. You might also notice in the box-and-whisker plot, the number of grass grown in the NaCl concentration was one of the highest number, however, the majority of the grass grown were below the median and were shortest in length compared to grass grown in other deicer solutions.

In terms of data analysis, why are some graphs lacking error bars and those that do - have very large error bars?

Most graphs do not have error bars because the experiments were performed during different days and times, in different environments. Those of which are uncontrolled to model day-to-day weather fluctuations throughout the winter. Therefore, it is not practical to use averages, standard deviations, and error bars to represent the data.

What was your experience at the Massachusetts Region V High School Science & Engineering Fair?

It was a great experience! I met a lot of people, made new friends, and had the opportunity to learn about their projects. New science and technology as well as their applications were amazing and fascinating to discover. Below is a picture of my high school's participants after the award ceremony.