Environmental Effects of Sodium Acetate/Formate Deicer, Ice Shear™

Abstract

The environmental impacts of Ice Sheartrade mark, an alternative highway deicer, have been evaluated using standard laboratory tests; biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) tests, chemical oxygen demand (COD) tests, acute rainbow trout bioassays, and phytotoxicity tests were used. Ice Shear consists of equimolar sodium acetate and sodium formate. The organic matter of the deicer can be readily degraded microbiologically in the natural environment with a slow rate of degradation at lower temperatures but an increased rate at higher temperatures. At elevated temperatures, highway runoffs of the deicer may reduce the level of dissolved oxygen in the receiving waters to cause an adverse impact. However, the apparent activation energy calculated for the BOD rate of Ice Shear is low (8.78 kcal mole-1), indicating that the temperature variation may not significantly influence the biodegradation of the deicer compound. Ice Shear appears relatively harmless to aquatic animals, showing a high 96-h LC50 value (16.1 g/L) derived for rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Ice Shear causes minimal toxicity to representative roadside vegetation; herbaceous (e.g., sunflowers, beans, and lettuce) and woody (e.g., pine seedlings) plants. Rather, the deicer at low concentrations (less than 2 g/kg soil) seems to work as a fertilizer, promoting the yield of biomass. The test results indicate that Ice Shear poses minimal environmental disturbance in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Unconventional Approach for Demineralization of Deproteinized Crustacean Shells for Chitin Production

“…Synowiecki and Al-Kateeb [13] stated that a good chitin purification method should insure effective removal as well as utilization of other shell components. Alkaline salts of carboxylic acids had been found to have good de-icing ability [20][21][22] as well as good antimicrobial activity [23][24] . Acetate salts (mainly calcium, magnesium and potassium acetates) can be used as environmentally friendly de-icing agents and lactate salts (mainly calcium and potassium lactates) can be used as food preservatives.…”

“…Acetate ion Potassium acetate Bang and Johnston [21] stated that a deicing agent is known to be more effective when it has a lower molecular weight with higher solubility. Table 6 shows the solubilities of sodium chloride,calcium lactate and some acetate salts.…”

Low‐temperature and highly efficient conversion of saccharides into formic acid under hydrothermal conditions

“…Traditionally, formic acid is used as a preservative and an antibacterial agent in livestock feed, the production of leather, and the dyeing and finishing of textiles. Sodium/calcium formate has also found recent use as an environmentally friendly de‐icer . Numerous recent studies have demonstrated that formic acid can be used directly to power fuel cells .…”

Synthesis and Properties of a Clean and Sustainable Deicing Additive for Asphalt Mixture

“…To mitigate these harmful effects, alternatives such as calcium-magnesium acetate (CMA) has been considered [ 8 , 9 ]. Acetate-based salts have the similar melting snow or ice efficiency to that of chloride, and they are less harmful for the surrounding environment [ 10 – 12 ]. Nevertheless, it cannot melt snow or ice sustainably on the asphalt pavement, because rain or melted snow will wash the acetate anions (Ac - ).…”