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F.A.Q.: Road Salts
Questions
- Is the Government of Canada banning the use of road salts?
- Are road salts considered toxic?
- Does the Region of Peel utilize road salt as a control measure?
- What are the environmental concerns associated with road salts?
- Are road salts dangerous to humans?
- How are road salts not harmful to human health?
- What steps have already been taken by the Region of Peel to improve the management of road salts?
- If there are environmental concerns, why has Environment Canada not acted already to control road salts?
Answers
- Is
the Government of Canada banning the use of road salts?
- No. The Government of Canada will not ban road salts.
- Environment Canada released a Code of Practice for the environmental management of road salts, recommending that road authorities recommend strategies to reduce the harm caused to the environment by road salts without jeopardizing road safety.
- The Code of Practice for road salts was published in the Canada Gazette on April 3, 2004.
- The Code of Practice was developed under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, which was the cornerstone of Federal legislation for protecting the health of Canadians and their environment.
- Are
road salts considered toxic?
- Environment Canada has recommended road salts containing
inorganic chloride salts be added to the List of
Toxic Substances under the Canadian Environment Protection
Act (CEPA) and is encouraging municipalities to develop
salt management plans and use 'best practices' regardless
of whether salt is placed on CEPA List of Toxic Substances.
- Environment Canada has recommended road salts containing
inorganic chloride salts be added to the List of
Toxic Substances under the Canadian Environment Protection
Act (CEPA) and is encouraging municipalities to develop
salt management plans and use 'best practices' regardless
of whether salt is placed on CEPA List of Toxic Substances.
- Does
the Region of Peel utilize road salt as a control measure?
- Yes the Region of Peel utilizes rock salt and washed sand for its winter control measures, and supports the responsible use of road salt to ensure road safety and environmental protection.
- Road salt is an essential cost effective tool for maintaining safe winter road conditions. However, Peel is aware excessive use can have negative impacts on the environment.
- Therefore, we strive to only apply as much salt as necessary to achieve safe driving conditions.
- What
are the environmental concerns associated with road
salts?
- Heavy use of road salts has been assessed to cause damage to vegetation, organisms in soil, birds and to other wildlife.
- Chloride ions from road salts find their way eventually into waterways, whether by direct runoff into surface water or by moving through the soil and groundwater.
- In surface water, road salts can harm freshwater
plants, fish and other organisms that are not adapted
to living in saline waters.
- Are
road salts dangerous to humans?
- Road salts are not dangerous to humans.
- How
are road salts not harmful to human health?
- There is no demonstrated link between the use of road salts and an adverse human health effect. Humans are exposed to road salts principally through well water that can be affected by road salts.
- Road salts can affect the taste of roadside well waters, sometimes to the point where the water is not drinkable, as sodium and chloride levels become sufficiently high.
- Sodium and chloride are not known to cause harm to humans; in fact, the Canadian Drinking Water Guidelines are based on taste, which is affected at levels well below those that might be of concern for human health.
- Other substances in road salts (including ferrocyanide
and certain metals) are only present at trace levels.
It has also been suggested that increased sodium
intake might contribute to hypertension in humans,
but the evidence is considered inconclusive and drinking
water usually only contributes a very small fraction
of people's total intake, most of which comes from
food.
- What
steps have already been taken by the Region of Peel
to improve the management of road salts?
- Peel has taken a proactive approach and is a member of the Ontario Road Salt Management Group. The mandate of this group is to develop individual salt management plans to ensure responsible salt usage.
- If
there are environmental concerns, why has Environment
Canada not acted already to control road salts?
- While many different reports of damage from road salts have been identified from various jurisdictions, it was important to come up with an overview of potential concerns.
- Large quantities of information were reviewed and analyzed to characterize the use of road salts, the concentrations in the environment in Canada, and the broad range of effects that can be associated with this environmental exposure.
- Road salts are important for roadway safety and
it is essential to understand where, when, and how
road salts can pose a risk in order to make responsible
management decisions.