Magnesium chloride is a formidable deicer with little corrosive or environmental damage.
Magnesium chloride is a salt composed of two chloride atoms for every magnesium atom (MgCl2). It is widely used as road deicer, extracted by salt-water evaporation, relatively safe to handle and the subject of pop-culture medical myths about miraculous healing properties.
Properties
Magnesium chloride exists anhydrously or as a hydrate. Hexa-hydrate MgCl2 has higher density (2.33 g/cm3) than anhydrous MgCl2 (1.58 g/cm3). Anhydrous magnesium chloride dissolves in water and, to a smaller extent, in ethanol.
Use
Magnesium chloride is found to successfully deice roads to temperatures of about 5 degrees F with milder corrosive effects than rock salt deicer.
Production Price
A USGS report points out that MgCl2 price depends on precipitation; greater precipitation lowers magnesium chloride concentration, requiring more evaporation time---therefore cost---for a given amount of desired product.
Safety
Hand and eye protection is recommended when dealing with magnesium chloride. Laxity may result in more injury than you think you're risking--containers are occasionally mislabeled. What looks like magnesium chloride might be something more sinister.
Medical Misconceptions
Beware of claims that magnesium chloride boosts all of your systems, rejuvenates your cells, unwrinkles your skin, etc. Salt-based therapies have their advantages; nevertheless, check with a certified medical professional before getting too excited.
Tags: magnesium chloride, Magnesium chloride
