What's the scoop with magnesium chloride? Corrosive?

[Spartan]

They mix the mag with water but it's not just liquid salt. It's totally corrosive and is banned in places for environmental reasons. It kills rainbow trout and other aquatic life as runoff. I would prefer a chance to go fishing over deiced roads myself. It doesn't snow much at my place tho. I do have studs if I need them tho.
IMHO the trout win out. I lived in lake Tahoe where salt are banned and rock works fine.

[CGerow]

Magnesium chloride is the name for the chemical compounds with the formulas MgCl2 and its various hydrates MgCl2(H2O)x. These salts are typical ionic halides, being highly soluble in water. The hydrated magnesium chloride can be extracted from brine or sea water. In North America, magnesium chloride is produced primarily from Great Salt Lake brine. It is extracted in a similar process from the Dead Sea in Jordan valley . Magnesium chloride as the natural mineral bischofite is also extracted (via solution mining) out of ancient seabeds; for example, the Zechstein seabed in northwest Europe. Some magnesium chloride is made from solar evaporation of seawater. Anhydrous magnesium chloride is the principal precursor to magnesium metal, which is produced on a large scale. Hydrated magnesium chloride is the form most readily available.


Basically liquid salt......

[CGerow]

On a side note they are using sugared beet juice for anti icing on the Coquihalla highway here in British Columbia, where they film the TV series Highway Thru Hell.

[DeadheadNM]

Well it snowed here a little and now I'm afraid to move the K20 5 miles to my storage unit. Hoping for dry, sunny weather soon to make the run. There's a self serve car wash en route where I can hose off the undercarriage. Loathe to turn what was basically a rust free truck into scaly mess...

[Spartan]

Originally Posted by CGerow

Magnesium chloride is the name for the chemical compounds with the formulas MgCl2 and its various hydrates MgCl2(H2O)x. These salts are typical ionic halides, being highly soluble in water. The hydrated magnesium chloride can be extracted from brine or sea water. In North America, magnesium chloride is produced primarily from Great Salt Lake brine. It is extracted in a similar process from the Dead Sea in Jordan valley . Magnesium chloride as the natural mineral bischofite is also extracted (via solution mining) out of ancient seabeds; for example, the Zechstein seabed in northwest Europe. Some magnesium chloride is made from solar evaporation of seawater. Anhydrous magnesium chloride is the principal precursor to magnesium metal, which is produced on a large scale. Hydrated magnesium chloride is the form most readily available.


Basically liquid salt......

Wikipedia verbatim^^
It's NOT "basically liquid salt". Nothing basic about it.

[lowrollin70gmc]

I'm glad I moved north to Fargo, ND; when I lived in Sioux Falls, SD they used that stuff relentlessly, often without any decent snow/ice accumulation afterwards. Now that I'm in a colder climate, snow doesn't turn to ice as easily, and de-icers are mainly used in the early fall / late spring.

I keep my K20 off the road for the most part, only if there is a foot or more of snow and I don't think my winter beater will make it where I need to go or I've got an itch to go play in the powder.

Magnesium Chloride is a salt but it is not Sodium Chloride aka table salt. It is a mild acid (so it isn't basic, if that's what you're getting at Spartan...) Watching what it does to cars, imagine what it also does to bridges and roadway structures. In increased concentrations will kill off wildlife and plant life; more of a reason to ban the stuff.


Another nasty thing that is used from time to time is beet juice, and it doesn't have sugar added, it actually has it's sugar removed as it is a byproduct of sugar extraction from sugar beets. I've done service work in a few sugar beet plants as a pipefitter/welder and there is nothing nice about beet juice. I would strip my work clothes off outside my front door so the smell wouldn't overpower my house.

[Spartan]

^^
Yes. I have heard it causes spalling on concrete, eats rebar, and actually destroys the rapd surface. As for bridges they are made of steel too. Yeah. Nasty stuff. I'm glad they don't deice here for trucks sake.

[pritch]

Originally Posted by Spartan

^^
Yes. I have heard it causes spalling on concrete, eats rebar, and actually destroys the rapd surface. As for bridges they are made of steel too. Yeah. Nasty stuff. I'm glad they don't deice here for trucks sake.

They've started using stainless steel rebar on the new bridges around here. And yes, it does cause spalling of concrete.

[litew8]

Someone (by someone I mean the City) dumped a lot of it along the curb in front of my house.
It got up on the grass near the trees. After reading these posts, I went out and brushed it all out into the street.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/magne...-toxicity.html

[DeadheadNM]

Saw MgCl2 packaged as "Pet Safe" deicer at Ace Hardware today...

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Saw MgCl2 packaged as "Pet Safe" deicer at Ace Hardware today...

It is safe...dogs don't rust...but I imagine it might be used like a salt lick...ickky..

[litew8]

.
.
not safe for pets

An animal that has ingested magnesium chloride can experience muscle weakness and irregular heart rhythms.
It can also cause the pet's blood pressure to drop to abnormally low levels. If walked on, it can burn the animal's paws.

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/facts_6826933_ma...#ixzz2mSpNmfwp

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by litew8

Reactions

An animal that has ingested magnesium chloride can experience muscle weakness and irregular heart rhythms.
It can also cause the pet's blood pressure to drop to abnormally low levels. If walked on, it can burn the animal's paws.

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/facts_6826933_ma...#ixzz2mSpNmfwp

How can they call it safe? This stuff sounds terrible because of the damage it causes. At my cabin in the Sierras they put decomposed granite on the roads. It doesn't melt ice/snow but promotes traction.

[litew8]

Who is calling it safe? What DeadHeadNM must have seen was a variation of it considered "safer" is my guess.

[DeadheadNM]

100% organic "Salt Free" and "Pet Friendly" with the predictable Golden Retriever and little girl on the label: http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...uctId=11085868