A commercial formulation of calcium magnesium acetate (cma), an alternative deicing agent for salt-sensitive areas, was evaluated for toxicity. A sbchronic toxicity test was performed, as was a full complement of short-term toxicity tests including acute oral toxicity, acute inhalation toxicity, acute dermal toxicity, eye irritation, skin irritation, and dermal sensitization tests. Presented in thisreport are the results of those tests, conducted through the chevron environmental health center, inc., Which are compared to similar toxicity data on sodium chloride and some worker experience with cma.The goal was to identify and characterize any immediate or short-term toxic effects cma may produce in humans and compare the results with data on sodium chloride (common salt). This series of tests showed cma to have very low mammalian toxicity. In general, the effects produced by cma are similar to those caused by sodium chloride in similar toxicity tests. The systemic toxicity potential of cma is similar to that of sodium chloride, as are the eye and skin irritation potentials. In the subchroonic feeding study, cma produced no toxicity at a "limit" dose of 1, 000 mg/kg/day for 28 days. The acute inhalation toxicity of cma is also low and cma produced no evidence of immunologic reactivity in a dermal sensitization test. In spite of thelow irritation potential evidenced in the acute eye and skin tests, highway workers at one field test site complained of eye and skin irritation when handling cma. An industrial hygiene site investigation was conducted to attempt to reconcile this human experience with the laboratory data. Dust exposures at the site in question were found to greatly exceed the threshold limit value for occupational exposure to nuisance dusts; respirable dust levels were much lower. In summary, laboratory and human evidence indicate cma to have a toxicitycomparable to that of sodium chloride. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1157, Deicing chemicals and snow control.
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