|
|
 |
Salt Pollution
Below is a free term papers summary of the paper "Salt Pollution." If you sign up, you can be reading the rest of this term papers in under two minutes. Registered users should login to view this term paper.
| Term Paper Title | Salt Pollution |
| # of Words | 1414 |
| # of Pages (250 words per page double spaced) | 5.66 |
Salt Pollution
Salt Pollution
As awareness for pollution increases, other forms of pollution are
defined. Almost everyone knows about toxic waste and carbon dioxide pollution,
but not many people have heard of salt pollution. Salt pollution has been on
the increase since the evolution of the automobile. With more pressure on
government agencies to keep the highway clear and safe, an increase in the use
of salt has developed. It is important to understand why salt is used and how
it work as well as the environmental effects to understand the salt pollution
problem.
Salt is a necessary and accepted part of the winter environment. It
provides safety and mobility for motorists, commercial vehicles and emergency
vehicles. Salt is used as the principal deicer because it is the most available
and cost-effective deicer. Rock salt is preferred because it is cheap and
effective. It costs 20 dollars a ton where as an alternative like calcium
magnesium cost around 700 dollars a ton. Some 10 million tons of deicing salt is
used each year in the U.S. and about 3 million in Canada.
Salt is used to keep snow and ice from bonding to the pavement and to
allow snowplows to remove. When salt is applied to ice and snow it creates a
brine that has a lower freezing temperature than the surrounding ice or snow.
Salt is the ideal deicing material because it is:
•the least expensive deicer
•easy to spread
•easy to store and handle
•readily available
•non-toxic
•harmless to skin and clothing
Salt pollution is broken into two main groups. Water, which includes
the effects on ground water, surface water and aquatic life and land.
Most of the salt applied to the roadways eventually ends up in the
ground water. It is estimated that 30% to 50% of the salt used travels into the
ground water. Salt effect two areas of ground water, chloride concentration and
sodium concentration. Chlorides may be present in the form of sodium chloride
crystals or as a ion in a solution. Normal concentrations in the water are
average around 10 mg/litre. Concentrations found in ground water near major
highways have been recorded as high as 250 mg/litre which is around the
threshold of taste.
The main factor with ground water pollution is the risk to human health.
The raised level in sodium in water can cause high blood pressure and
hypertension. With people who already suffer from these problem it is necessary
to keep their salt intake relatively low, they should not dr
This is not the end of the termpaper! Register below to see the complete version of this term paper.
| Membership Plans |
Credit Card |
Check |
 |
| 1 month membership |
|
3 month membership
(You Save 50%) |
|
6 month membership
(You Save 67%) |
|
|
