With weeks of winter still ahead, snow plows and salt trucks will continue to be a common sight on regional roadways. But road salt has long been under scrutiny by environmentalists. And now, the Canadian government is exploring whether to classify it as a toxic substance. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports:
Transcript
With weeks of winter still ahead, snowplows and salt trucks will continue to
be a common sight on regional roadways. But road salt has long been under scrutiny by
environmentalists. And now,
the Canadian government is exploring whether to classify it as a toxic
substance. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports:
Since last fall, Canadian officials have been studying road salt’s impact on
surface water, ground water and aquatic life. But professor Harold Foster says the
research needs to be
broadened, to look at road salt’s effect on human health.
Foster is a professor at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. His research
shows cancer deaths are elevated in areas where road salt use is
greatest. Foster says one explanation could be that road salt is highly corrosive.
“It dissolves, as you know, your automobiles. It dissolves and
takes metals out of the soil. So obviously there’s a tendency for road ii
salt pollution to increase the amount of heavy metal people get in their
drinking water supplies.”
The Canadian government is expected to finish up its assessment of road salt
by the end of the year. If they decide to classify it as a toxic substance,
road salt use is likely to be restricted or banned in Canada.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Wendy Nelson.