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Introduction
Introduction
Residents of Ottawa County, Michigan, are aware of the dangerous conditions driving through icy roads from December through March bring. Often, one hears the frustrations of these residents on the lack of road salt sprayed on the roads. How aware, however, are these residents of the environmental degradation issues caused by the most common deicer, sodium chloride?
Why is this a problem?
Why is this a problem?
This deicing chemical causes issues not only for the flora and fauna of the surrounding area, but also for the humans who use the groundwater near heavily salted roads. Lakes are often a supplier for groundwater and aquifers that supply residential homes with running water. When nearby lakes become contaminated with high chloride levels from road runoff, residential sources of water do as well.
Literature Review
The scientific understanding of groundwater contamination by sodium chloride has been reported since the 1970s as the use of road salt began to surge in the 1960s (Dugan et al., 2020). However, abrasive chemicals have been used since the early 1900s allowing for an increase in friction on snowy or icy roads (Terry et al., 2020). As travel throughout the winter months has only increased, so has the use of deicers to make driving more manageable.
Issues with Sodium Chloride
Increase in greenhouse gas emissions
Microorganisms, zooplankton, phytoplankton, and local fish populations harmed by high salt levels
Local well water contamination causes harm for humans
Infrastructure issues in bridges and concrete, and can cause harm to vehicles driving on the roads
West Michigan fits into the area at risk for high rates of sodium chloride in its groundwater. The excess snow caused by the regions’ proximity to Lake Michigan and cold winters allow for continuous use of sodium chloride on the roads each year. It is important that the residents of west Michigan are educated on the issues described.
Note. The Socio-Ecological System Framework graphic. From Influence of socio-environmental risks on natural resource dependent socio-ecological systems in Central Himalaya (p. 1570), by Gopirajan A T et al., (2021).
Theoretical Framework
Theoretical Framework
To allow us to understand what decisions are made regarding our environment and how our governmental systems affect it, we can use the Socio-Ecological System Framework. This framework provides an explanation for how our resource consumption and management through government affect the environmental systems surrounding us.
Ecological System
Resource System - the bodies of water including lakes and rivers that are affected by sodium chloride
Resource Units - the level of chloride found in these bodies of water and the effect it has on the ecosystem
Social System
Governance System - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), as well as any local governing bodies that choose the amount of salt applied to the roads
Actors - households and individuals living in the governed area and are affected by the actions of the governance system
Socio-Environmental Drivers - risks which in turn put pressure on each of the systems, causing them to change in response to one another over time
Socio-Ecological Interaction - the interaction between the social system and ecological system as they continuously change one another
Impacts/Response - the socio-ecological interaction and the changes made in either system in response to the other
Research Question
Research Question
The objective of my research is to find the impact of road salt, specifically sodium chloride, on lakes within Ottawa County, Michigan, and whether the information of this impact changes the residents’ perception of the benefit of using road salt.
The necessity of clear roads in the wintertime is something that will not go away anytime soon, especially in Michigan. Without a full understanding of the impact of this deicer on the ecosystem we may continue to degrade our environment for many years to come when a change could be made now. The residents of west Michigan are the ones who need to understand the harm of using this salt, not only on the environment, but also on their own health. This can be important for local government to gauge future environmental protection decisions on. Overall, this research is significant information to understand how our usage of sodium chloride affects the environment, and whether residents will be willing and open to using a new deicer.
References
Cassanelli, J. P., & Robbins, G. A. (2013). Effects of road salt on Connecticut’s groundwater: a statewide centennial perspective. Journal of Environmental Quality, 42(3), 737–748. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2012.0319
Cicuéndez-Santamaría, R. (2024). Who cares and how much do they care about the environment? The evolution of environmental concern in Spain and the European Union. Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 188, 55–78. https://doi.org/10.5477/cis/reis.188.55-80
Dugan, H. A., Skaff, N. K., Doubek, J. P., Bartlett, S. L., Burke, S. M., Krivak-Tetley, F. E., Summers, J. C., Hanson, P. C., & Weathers, K. C. (2020). Lakes at risk of chloride contamination. Environmental Science & Technology, 54(11), 6639–6650. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b07718
Frank, L. D., Iroz-Elardo, N., MacLeod, K. E., & Hong, A. (2019). Pathways from built environment to health: A conceptual framework linking behavior and exposure-based impacts. Journal of Transport & Health, 12, 319–335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2018.11.008
Gopirajan A T, S., Kumar, P., Chauhan, N., & Joshi, P. K. (2021). Influence of socio-environmental risks on natural resource dependent socio-ecological systems in Central Himalaya. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 27(6), 1568–1587. https://doi.org/10.1080/10807039.2020.1861427
Hunter, R. W., Dhaun, N., & Bailey, M. A. (2022). The impact of excessive salt intake on human health. Nature Reviews Nephrology, 18(5), 321–335. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-021-00533-0
Lax, S., & Peterson, E. W. (2008). Characterization of chloride transport in the unsaturated zone near salted road. Environmental Geology, 58(5), 1041–1049. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1584-6
Poškus, M. S. (2020). Why do intelligent people care more about the environment? Psychology / Psichologija, 62, 25–37. https://doi.org/10.15388/Psichol.2020.18
Skelton, E. H., Terry, L., & Amirkhanian, A. (2022). Novel SHRP method showed alternative deicers outperform NaCl brine for certain winter roadway maintenance applications. Journal of Environmental Management, 320, 115879. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115879
Solomon, C. T., Dugan, H. A., Hintz, W. D., & Jones, S. E. (2023). Upper limits for road salt pollution in lakes. Limnology and Oceanography Letters, 8(6), 859–866. https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10339
Szklarek, S., Górecka, A., & Wojtal-Frankiewicz, A. (2022). The effects of road salt on freshwater ecosystems and solutions for mitigating chloride pollution - A review. Science of the Total Environment, 805(0048-9697), 150289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150289
Terry, L. G., Conaway, K., Rebar, J., & Graettinger, A. J. (2020). Alternative deicers for winter road maintenance—A review. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, 231(8). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-04773-x
Vignisdottir, H. R., Ebrahimi, B., Booto, G. K., O’Born, R., Brattebø, H., Wallbaum, H., & Bohne, R. A. (2019). A review of environmental impacts of winter road maintenance. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 158, 143–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2018.10.013
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