| | A Technical Brief, written by STEP in 2020, called the, ["Alternatives to Salt: What else melts snow and ice? https://sustainabletechnologies.ca/app/uploads/2020/03/Alternatives-to-salt-technical-brief.pdf]</ref> highlights how municipalities across Canada using salt as their primary deicer agent in winter, poses significant impacts to their regions. This includes, corrosion of infrastructure and other metal structures such as railings and doorways, damage to vehicles, contamination of surface and groundwater, impacts to roadside vegetation, increased wildlife collision rates and large amounts of product waste due to blowing or bouncing off roadways). Read more about the benefits, drawbacks, cost estimates and lowest working temperature for a given deicing agent at the link above. |
| Furthermore, salt can contribute to both biodiversity and habitat loss for numerous species. In Ontario, road salt was identified as one of the threats to drinking water under the Clean Water Act, 2006 - as well as a known toxin to wildlife species<ref>Government of Ontario. 2006. Clean Water Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 22. https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/06c22.</ref>. Salt can impacts bird species, many plants and trees growth ability, and decrease size, function and fecundify in fish, mollusks (snail, mussels, etc.), amphibians and benthic invertebrate species. | | Furthermore, salt can contribute to both biodiversity and habitat loss for numerous species. In Ontario, road salt was identified as one of the threats to drinking water under the Clean Water Act, 2006 - as well as a known toxin to wildlife species<ref>Government of Ontario. 2006. Clean Water Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 22. https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/06c22.</ref>. Salt can impacts bird species, many plants and trees growth ability, and decrease size, function and fecundify in fish, mollusks (snail, mussels, etc.), amphibians and benthic invertebrate species. |