By Brigitte Rodriguez, Publishing Associate: Researcher and Writer at Save the Water | August

Acid rain is a serious environmental problem. It puts all human life and our ecosystems in danger. We need to be aware of acid rain contamination and take actions to stop it.

What is Acid Rain?

Acid rain is a precipitation which includes a solution of nitric and sulfuric acids. The high levels of these components are dangerous not only for human life but also for the environment at large. This acid solution goes through all ecosystems. And human activity mainly causes this solution. This activity includes fuel burning, which releases sulfur dioxide. When it burns, this goes straight to the atmosphere. Furthermore, when it reacts with oxygen molecules, particles of water, and other components, it produces acid rain.

The Effects of Acid Rain

Acid rain is toxic. Once  precipitation hits the ground, it’s game over. The acid solution goes through the soil. The effects are disastrous. Trees can’t absorb the nutrients in the ground. Furthermore, it makes it hard for trees and plants to grow.

Also, this kind of pollution affects the aquatic ecosystem. When it goes through water, it changes the pH levels of the water. Moreover, it affects biodiversity and fauna. Some fish die or have problems growing. Furthermore, some aquatic animal and plant life decrease because the water is more acidic. In turn, this affects the balance of the water ecosystem.

Acid rain not only damages the environment but also modern buildings. Specifically, the rain corrodes pipes and damages any kind of metal.

Events Caused by Acid Rain

China has become the third-largest acid rain region in the world. This country is known for their big industrial factories. Furthermore, they use coal for the production of electricity. Consequently, the emission of toxic gasses has produced acid rain in southern China. This rain not only damages the farmlands but also the lakes and rivers. Because of economic growth and urbanization in the region, the situation doesn’t get better.  Furthermore, it causes respiratory problems for the people living there.

Another example of the effects of acid rain is in India. Specifically, this type of rain damaged the Taj Mahal monument. The acid rain hitting the monument has eroded the surface of the building. Notably, the city is polluted from the use of coal and firewood as a domestic fuel. The acid rain caused by this pollution affects not only the city’s environment but also its architecture. This situation risks the entire architectural history of the country.

How Can We Manage the Effects of Acid Rain?

Here are some ways that we can reduce the effects of acid rain:

• Regulate the emission of cars through industry standards
• Use sustainable energy sources instead of fossil fuels
• Reduce the use of electricity
• Use public transportation more frequently 

Nowadays, more technologies help to reduce the effects of acid rain. Technologies like Flue Gas Desulphurization, Limestone Injection Multistage Burners and Advanced Silicate.

Also, governments are taking action to regulate the burning of fossil fuels. For example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a series of regulations aimed at reducing emissions from power plants. Notably, this regulation will lower the emission levels of power plants. Even more, it will help the transition to use of clean energy.

If we want to reduce the effects of acid rain, we need to be part of the solution. Knowing the effects of acid rain on our ecosystem is vital. By changing our actions in our daily lives, we can preserve our biodiversity for future generations.

Road Salt In The Winter

During the winter months, communities brace themselves for the unwavering harsh conditions of high winds, heavy snow, and below freezing temperatures. The greater these winter conditions are, the greater duration of time that drivers must avoid the roads due to high snow and ice. Without the quick, easy use of roads, local economies slump due to a significant lack of travel and people are forced to remain largely indoors. In order to combat this fate, cities utilize the most common element that we shake onto our foods: salt, otherwise known as sodium chloride.

Essentially, salt mixed with water causes ice to melt because a salt-water solution has a lower freezing point than pure water. “When added to ice, salt first dissolves in the film of liquid water that is always present on the surface, thereby lowering its freezing point below the ice’s temperature. Ice in contact with salty water, therefore, melts, creating more liquid water, which dissolves more salt, thereby causing more ice to melt, and so on.”6 Applying salt to snow-covered roadways speeds up the melting process, thus allowing cars to travel that much sooner. This process greatly benefits ease of travel and is highly preferred and utilized. According to the American Highway Users Alliance, a trade advocacy group in Washington, D.C, “road salt pays for itself within 25 minutes of being applied, reducing crashes by up to 88 percent, injuries by up to 85 percent and accident costs by up to 85 percent.”1

However, due to the relatively low cost of this process and its “quick fix” capabilities, many cities across the U.S. implement this method in large scales and quantities. It’s estimated that more than 22 million tons of salt are scattered on the roads of the U.S. annually.8 After fulfilling their initial purpose, all of these tons of salt end up getting “carried away and deposited into both surface water (streams, lakes, and rivers) and the groundwater under our feet.”8

Effect of Snow Salt on Chloride Concentrations

A study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene found that chloride concentrations exceeded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency water-quality criteria at 55 percent and 25 percent of the 168 monitoring locations in northern metropolitan areas from November to April. Only 16 percent (chronic) and 1 percent (acute) of sites exceeded criteria from May to October. At southern sites, very few samples exceeded chronic water-quality criteria, and no samples exceeded acute criteria.3 The findings of this study demonstrate the direct result of the high use of road salt during the winter months. Runoff containing high levels of road salt lead to high levels of chloride in the surrounding bodies of water.

Dramatically increased levels of chloride in the water can negatively impact ecosystems. “Elevated chloride can inhibit plant growth, impair reproduction, and reduce the diversity of organisms in streams.”5 The most sensitive terrestrial species to salt are birds through the consumption of salt crystals. Other wildlife species are affected by drinking water with concentrations of chloride greater than 600 mg/L Damage to vegetation can also have an impact on wildlife habitat by destroying food resources, shelter and breeding and nesting sites.7

Because these increased levels of sodium chloride can also make their way through runoff into groundwater where drinking water is sourced, there is also a risk to humans drinking unfiltered tap water. “For drinking water, EPA now requires monitoring and has set a drinking water limit of 20 mg/L for sodium above which public water systems must report the concentration to local health authorities (USEPA, 2003a). Such reporting allows physicians to advise any of their patients on sodium-restricted diets accordingly. Excess sodium, linked with hypertension, which is high blood pressure identified as greater than 140/90, has driven EPA’s limit. This condition is of concern because, if left untreated, it can lead to cardiac disease, renal disease, hardening of the arteries, eye damage, and stroke. Approximately 25% of the adult US population has hypertension (Makoff and Marks, 2004). 6

Read more on desalination technology here: Hold the Salt: The Future of Desalination Technology

The Solution to the Salt Problem

In order to avoid these possible harmful effects, many local city governments across the United States have been trying and employing alternative methods of keeping the roads safe aside from simply using pure salt. For example, the government of Polk County, Wisconsin has been utilizing cheese brine. According to their findings, because dry salt bounces initially when it’s applied, mixing the brine in with salt saves 30 percent of salt by eliminating the bounce factor, so [they] can use less salt to get the same effect. 2 Not only does this mean that they save thousands of dollars, but it also means that they contribute a great deal of less salt in the environment, benefiting their local ecosystem as well as human population.

Another alternate technique used by officials in Des Plaines, Illinois, a city of 58,000, “uses a mixture of beet juice and calcium chloride to wet streets before snow or ice strike.” 2 This method reduces the amount of salt needed for the desired effect by pre-wetting the roads, which helps break the bond between snow and road. Various other techniques include a mixture of 20 percent beet juice and 80 percent liquid salt brine as well as a mixture of calcium chloride, sugar cane molasses, and regular road salt.4

Although it requires extra effort to investigate alternate options for reducing snow and ice on roadways, the outcomes of doing so are overwhelmingly positive. Local governments can lessen both the damage to their ecosystems and the potential harm to residents unknowingly drinking high levels sodium, saving thousands of dollars in the process.

References

1. Balakrishnan, Anita. “Road Salt: Winter’s $2.3 Billion Game Changer – NBC News.” NBC News. 19 Feb. 2015. Retrieved from http://nbcnews.to/1JrROSf
2. Copeland, Larry. “Communities Seek a Substitute for Road Salt.” USA Today. Gannett, 23 Feb. 2013. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/23/road-salt-substitute/1939793/
3. Corsi, Steven R., David J. Graczyk, Steven W. Geis, Nathaniel L. Booth, and Kevin D. Richards. “A Fresh Look at Road Salt: Aquatic Toxicity and Water-Quality Impacts on Local, Regional, and National Scales.” Environmental Science & Technology 44.19 (2010): 7376-382. Print. Retrieved from http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/es101333u
4. Long, Emily. “More (Or Less) Road Salt.” Conservation Law Foundation. Conservation Law Foundation RSS, 25 Jan. 2011.
5. Mullaney, John, and Diane Noserale. “Chloride Found at Levels That Can Harm Aquatic Life in Urban Streams of the Northern U.S.–Winter Deicing a Major Source.” USGS Newsroom. U.S. Department of the Interior — U.S. Geological Survey, 16 Sept. 2009. Retrieved from https://www.usgs.gov/news?ID=2307&from=#.VlpoFXjHKKx
6. Pelton, Arthur. “Why Do We Put Salt on Icy Sidewalks in the Winter?”Scientific American Global RSS. 26 Dec. 2005. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-we-put-salt-on-icy/
7. Siegel, Lori. “Hazard Identification for Human and Ecological Effects of Sodium Chloride Road Salt.” (2007). State of New Hampshire. Retrieved from http://www.rebuildingi93.com/documents/environmental/Chloride%20TMDL%20Toxicological%20Evaluation.pdf
8. Stromberg, Joseph. “What Happens to All the Salt We Dump On the Roads?”Smithsonian. 6 Jan. 2014. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/1Fo6y1I