Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies
Our research has revealed that the impacts of road salt do not stop when winter ends. Salt pollution can take decades to flush out of ecosystems. If salt continues to accumulate at its present rate in the Northeastern US, surface and well waters will become increasingly unhealthy for humans and wildlife by the end of this century.
Earth Institute | Columbia University
By the winter of 1941-1942, about 5,000 tons of salt were being spread on highways nationwide. In the following decades the use of salt as a deicer increased exponentially. Today an estimated 20 million tons of salt is scattered on U.S. roads annually—about 123 pounds for every American.