What are some common chemicals used for deicing?
Salt is the most common and cheapest but it has environmental side effects such as the salinization of bodies of water and accelerating corrosion on metallic surfaces. Salt is the most common and cheapest but it has environmental side effects such as the salinization of bodies of water and accelerating corrosion on metallic surfaces. Magnesium Chloride and Calcium Chloride are better in colder temperatures but they share the environmental side effects of rock salt as they are also chlorides. ICE BAN®, ICE B GONE®, GEOMELT® and CALIBER are all agricultural byproducts and have no environmental side effects. CMA (Calcium Magnesium Acetate) was specifically designed for deicing without environmental side effects but is also more expensive.
