Is ice slicer safe for the environment?
Air Quality
Ice Slicer® is the perfect solution for areas looking to lower their PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels, and protect their air quality as well as their roads.
Winter months are notorious for higher air particulate matter (pm) pollution. Ice Slicer contains only ~10% non-soluble materials. With Ice Slicer, you can also get clear roads with around 40% less product. As a result, our products release fewer particulates into the air than other road treatments such as white rock salt, sand, gravel, and other abrasives/aggregates. Click to learn more about particulate matter air pollution.
Plant and Soil Health
When applied correctly, Ice Slicer® nourishes soil and plant health.
Our mineral deposit in Redmond, Utah is not just the natural source for Ice Slicer®, but also many agricultural mineral products enjoyed by farmers since the 1950s. When proper application rates are followed, the natural minerals in Ice Slicer® runoff improve plant growth and invigorate soil microbe colonies. Areas that use our products in the correct concentration experience visibly healthier roadside vegetation. With no added chemicals or dyes, you can avoid the harsh leaching of of other road treatments.
Wildlife Health
Ice Slicer® is all natural and contains no added chemicals or harsh dyes.
Did you know that the unique blend of minerals from our Utah deposit has been used to nourish animal health for decades? With no harsh additives, you won't have to worry about bio-accumulating dyes or toxic chemicals that can harm wildlife. Ice Slicer's reddish hue comes from its naturally occurring trace minerals...nothing more!
Waterway Health
Ice Slicer® is safe for marine organisms, plants, and has minimal impact on bio-chemical balance.
As a complex chloride™ product, Ice Slicer® has the least impact (compared to other common deicer ingredients) on dissolved oxygen (DO) levels in waterways. Protecting DO levels prevents toxic algae blooms, nutrient pollution, and aquatic kill zones. With 90% soluble materials, Ice Slicer® does not increase water turbidity or clog flow. When applied in the recommended application rates, our road treatments help protect the delicate balance of water based ecosystems.
preserve roadside environment
UDOT used Ice Slicer just south of Levan, Utah, along Highway 28. After winter faded and vegetation started to return, the vegetation along the roadway came back lusher and greener than the surrounding plants.
When following proper application rates, Ice Slicer runoff will benefit roadside vegetation.
PROTECT Vegetation
World-renowned Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah attracts millions of visitors every year. Grounds crews work hard to keep walkways safe and clear while protecting their expansive gardens. Before Ice Slicer, Temple Square replaced 9 pallets worth of grass and about 1/3 of their plants due to deicer damage. After switching to Ice Slicer, they reported that no grass and only a few plants needed to be replaced after their winter season.
ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFER
Ice Slicer is a powerful and all-natural alternative to the more destructive deicers and salts on the market. Depending on storm conditions, Ice Slicer typically requires 40-100% less salt than white salt. By introducing far less chlorides, Ice Slicer greatly reduces environmental concerns that would occur from other melting agents.
ORGANICALLY CERTIFIED
Ice Slicer is 100% all natural — so it’s dye-free and kid-safe. In fact, our deicer comes from the same deposit where we gather our food-grade salt (which happens to be the best-selling brand of sea salt in America’s health food stores). Now that’s something you can feel good about!
DECREASES ALKALINITY
Ice Slicer contains 1/60 the alkali content found in lake salt. Better yet, Ice Slicer’s unique mineral composition acts as an environmental buffer, which significantly decreases its alkalinity compared to white salt.
PROTECTING OUR STREAMS
Ice Slicer is less harmful to aquatic life than white salt because it doesn’t contribute to biological oxygen demand. Additionally, Ice Slicer is an eco-friendly solution that naturally adds grit to the road without having to use sand or other aggregates. These aggregates can contribute to sedimentation loading in streams which can be harmful to aquatic life.
REDUCE THE NEED FOR AGGREGATES
Ice Slicer creates natural traction that other granular deicers cannot provide. The benefit is that sand usage is minimized and even deleted in many instances, decreasing sediment-loading problems in sensitive areas.
FEWER PARTICULATES
Ice Slicer has fewer particulates than white salt and sand. This equates to less air quality issues in PM-10 and PM-2.5 areas. This picture shows a road covered in sand just outside of Gillette, WY. The use of aggregates (like sand) can create many air quality concerns.