When snow must go
Many de-icers available; apply them with care
Ice and snow can be beautiful, but not when they are coating your sidewalks, patios or driveways.
A variety of commercial products are available that promise to melt those icy cares away. But which to use?
Rock salt? Calcium chloride? Urea? Super Wonder Melt with Ice-b-gone (which isn’t really a brand but absolutely should be)?
With so many de-icing products on the market, choosing the best way to melt ice and snow at home can be a slippery decision.
“People have become much more aware of the different products that are available,” said Valerie Rossetti, office manager at Peters Chemical Co. in New Jersey, which sells ice-melting products of all kinds to commercial and residential customers.
“Before, they’d just throw down rock salt and be done with it.”
And why not?
“Rock salt is not a bad product,” Rossetti said. “It’s not harmful when used properly.”
Rock salt is also one of the cheapest ice-melting options. But rock salt — also known as sodium chloride — can harm plants and wildlife at high concentrations.
And users often dump more than is needed or spread it improperly, resulting in waste and excessive salt run-off, Rossetti said.
“Less is more,” advised Peter Lowe, director of landscape operations at Dawes Arboretum near Newark.
“Typically, about 80 percent of any (ice-melting) product is wasted,” Lowe said.
Among the most popular alternatives to rock salt are calcium chloride and magnesium
chloride, which are also some of the fastest and most effective ice-melters. Calcium chloride and magnesium chloride are toxic to plants but less so than rock salt, and they act faster, so less needs to be used, Lowe said.
Judicious use of any type of ice-melter is key, he said.
Damage to plants from rock salt and other de-icers can resemble that from a spill or over-application of fertilizer, said Pam Bennett, director of the Ohio State Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Program.
In home use, the run-off from driveways and sidewalks can cause “salt burn” to grass and salt-sensitive plants such as boxwood and other evergreens planted around foundations or along walks, she said.
Careful application of rock salt, Bennett said, or using a different de-icer such as calcium chloride or magnesium chloride, can minimize problems around sensitive plants.
Homeowners should consider planting salt-tolerant plants, such as shore juniper, if they’ve had problems with salt burn.
Purdue University Extension offers an online list of landscape plants that shows their reported salt tolerance; visit www.extension.purdue.edu.
Pet owners should be aware that chloride deicers, including rock salt, are known to irritate and crack skin and paws exposed to the chemicals.
“It’s a relatively mild concern,” said Dr. Edward Cooper, a professor at the Ohio State University School of Veterinary Medicine.
“The best recommendation, when you know that stuff is on the sidewalk, is to wipe off their feet when you go inside and make sure you get the chucks of gross material from between their toes,” Cooper said.
Pets who eat a small amount of de-icer or lick the residue off their paws might also suffer mild gastric upset or salivate more than usual, Cooper said. And owners should be sure that their pets can't get into bags or bottles of stored de-icer, he said.
Several brands of de-icers advertised as “pet-friendly” are available; they use little or no chloride salts.
However, “there are no official veterinary recommendations, that I know of, for (pet-friendly) de-icers,” Cooper said.
The Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District also advises that many de-icers advertised as “pet-friendly” or “environment-friendly” contain glycol mixtures that can be toxic to aquatic organisms at high concentrations.
Urea and other products commonly used as fertilizer, such as ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate, are also used for de-icing. The latter two chemicals, however, are known to damage concrete surfaces if not washed off quickly. And the runoff from excess fertilizer can harm the environment.
Other options include calcium magnesium acetate (CMA), a de-icer that’s expensive and difficult to find but effective, less corrosive than chloride salts and safer for the environment. It might also be the only de-icer that won't damage concrete surfaces less than 2 years old, Rossetti said. But it's usually found only in a mix with other de-icing chemicals, she said. '# + ' 0'$
Many brand-name products use various combinations of ice-melting chemicals. Lowe, at Dawes Arboretum, prefers a mix that works in varying conditions and at varying temperatures; he keeps rock salt at a minimum, he said.
However, some companies exaggerate the benefits of their particular mix, Rossetti warned.
A list of de-icing products certified under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "Safer Choice" program can be found at www.epa.gov/saferchoice/ products#search=deicer.
When it comes to deicers, though, "there are no perfect ones," said Kurt Keljo, watershed resource specialist at the Franklin Soil ' 0' and Water Conservation District.
Whichever you chose, it’s important to apply the proper amount, Keljo said.
Always follow instructions on the packaging and resist the temptation to use more.
Spreading ice melter on your sidewalk or driveway before a big snow is more effective and will allow you to use less, Keljo said. Such pre-treatment can prevent ice from bonding with the surface and allow easier shoveling.
Another tip: Wash your vehicle at a commercial car wash, not on the street or in the driveway, Keljo said. That keeps the salty runoff from flowing untreated into the environment, he said.
Remember, de-icing chemicals are not meant to melt large piles of snow. Mechanical means — yes, we’re talking shoveling or snow-blowing — are still the best way to get rid of snow and prevent icy buildup.
That's the philosophy at Franklin County Metro Parks, said Larry Peck, assistant director of the park system. Metro Parks uses rock salt on its roads and trails, but only when necessary, Peck said.
“If we have an ice buildup, we’ll put down rock salt because we don’t want our visitors slipping,” Peck said. “But it’s not so good environmentally, so we try to use a lot of discretion. We do everything we can not to use it.”
Instead, park workers try to clear roads and trails of snow before it can build up and be compacted into ice by vehicles and pedestrians, Peck said.
Metro Parks also uses sand on some hills for added traction in bad weather, he said.
Dawes Arboretum also uses sand when possible, Lowe said.
Sand won't melt ice, but like kitty litter, ashes, gravel and other inert, abrasive materials, it can increase traction on slippery spots with few side effects.
sstephens@dispatch.com @Stevestephens