Evaluation on the Effects of Deicing Chemicals on Soil and Water Environment

Deicing chemicals are widely used to clear the pavement snow in the cold areas of China and many other countries in winter, because of their simple operation and excellent snow-melting effect, which leads to more convenience for traffic and low probability of traffic accident in the city, especially in metropolis. However, with the ever-growing application of deicing chemicals, their negative effects on environment such as soil and water system increased dramatically. Based on the related researches in China and abroad, this paper summarized the two categories of deicing chemicals and their working principles, and then provided the unique characteristics of deicing chemicals' effects on soil and water environment in large cities, which may need considerable quantity of the chemicals to relieve traffic congestion. What's more, main aspects of impacts by deicing chemicals on regional soil and water environment and the fundamental factors related to the aspects above respectively were generalized, in order to propose a conceptual model to evaluate the harmful effects. Moreover, this paper put forward some suggestions for the further research in this field to fulfill the model, and provided a scientific basis for the pollution prevention of deicing chemicals on urban environment. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of School of Environment, Beijing Normal University.