Top of PageHow are road salts not harmful to human health?
There is no demonstrated link between the use of road salts and an adverse human health effect. Humans are exposed to road salts principally through well water that can be affected by road salts. Road salts can affect the taste of roadside well waters, sometimes to the point where the water is not drinkable, when sodium and chloride levels become sufficiently high. Sodium and chloride are not known to cause harm to humans; in fact, the Canadian Drinking Water Guidelines are based on taste. Water becomes undrinkable at salt levels well below those that might be of concern for human health. Other substances in road salts (including ferrocyanide and certain metals) are only present at trace levels. It has also been suggested that increased sodium intake might contribute to hypertension in humans, but the evidence is considered inconclusive and drinking water usually only contributes a very small fraction of people’s total intake, most of which comes from food.
