Anti-Freeze in Rock Salt

jaqui59

This report is a couple of years old, and may have been posted on here before, but just in case it wasn't, here it is .........

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1341137/Hundreds-dogs-cats-die-rock-salt-scattered-gritters-big-freeze.html

ValOrient

The grit spread by the majority of councils is just Rock Salt. Nothing added. Antifreeze may be spilt on roads from radiators overheating etc and animals may get it that way.
Typcal Daily Fail misleading article.

PrincessPlaty

With the snow upon us the roads are now being gritted, if you walk your dog on gritted roads/paths please make sure that their paws are washed either by walking them through a few puddles away from the gritted surfaces or by dipping their feet in fresh water once at home. Hundreds of pets are becoming seriously ill and in some cases dying because of the rock salt and antifreeze being used during the cold snap, animal charities warned yesterday. Dogs and cats are walking through the substances left by gritters trying to clear roads and car drivers defrosting their windscreens and then licking them off their paws. Consuming rock salt can cause dehydration, liver failure and pancreatitis, while antifreeze contains the chemical ethylene glycol, which can be lethal when ingested.

GustyGardenGalaxy

ValOrient wrote: »

The grit spread by the majority of councils is just Rock Salt. Nothing added. Antifreeze may be spilt on roads from radiators overheating etc and animals may get it that way.
Typcal Daily Fail misleading article.

I've been curious about this too - I can't imagine that councils would add antifreeze to the rock salt that they spread. The Mail is simply getting mixed up with the fact that antifreeze is more lilely to be used elsewhere (and perhaps in domestic de-icing solutions).

Edit: following some research, I can say that councils do NOT add antifreeze to the road grit - so it's just a case of washing your animals paws/underside after walking on gritted roads.

Would love to be certain about this though - do ANY local authorities add anything (such as antifreeze) to their rock salt/grit?

auroan

It's complete and utter nonsense and typical rumor mill. As mentioned council grit is rock salt.

Anti-freeze is a serious pollutant and no way on earth would anyone be given a license to spread it on every major road in the volumes gritters do. It would just about kill most local wildlife if it got into the water via run off.

morg_monster

Can't believe I'm actually going to defend the DM but... this article does not suggest in any way that councils add anti-freeze to their rock salt / gritters! The OP must have misinterpreted the article as the post title isn't representative of what the article actually says.

It says (1) antifreeze is poisonous to animals and it's much more likely to be a threat when it's very cold (2) consuming rock salt is also bad for animals and may kill them if they lick/eat enough of it off their feet, and there's lots of it about when it's very cold.