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  • Writer's picturejtanu071

A Brief History of Rock Salt


Author: Monica Riad, Curator at the Canadian Museum of Nature


Rock salt was first used in the city of Detroit, Michigan as they had a local salt mine producing about 8000 tonnes of salt per month (Howard, 2014). It was first applied it to roads in 1940 (Howard, 2014). The state of New Hampshire was next in line and rock salt was further accepted and being used nationwide by 1941 (Kelly, Findlay, Schlesinger, Menking, & Chatrchyan, 2010). Rock salt can be derived from mining or from evaporating saltwater, however, the main method of retrieving rock salt is through mining (Howard, 2014). There are many mines all over the world, making the abundance of rock salt very great (Howard, 2014). Given by its name of sodium chloride, rock salt possesses a solid crystal consistency and is the same type of compound used in table salt (Caceres, 2016). Major cities in Canada such as Toronto and Montreal, use about 130, 000 tonnes of rock salt annually to de-ice roads. (Russell, 2017).


References:

Caceres, N. (2016). Should I use Rock Salt or Calcium Chloride? An Overview of Ice Removal. Retrieved from https://masslandlords.net/should-i-use-rock-salt-or-calcium-chloride-an-overview-of-ice-removal/

Howard, B. (2014). The Surprising History of Road Salt. Retrieved from https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140212-road-salt-shortages-melting-ice-snow-science/

Russell, A. (2017). Why do we still use road salt and what are the alternatives? Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/3174300/why-do-we-still-use-road-salt-and-what-are-the-alternatives/

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