The corrosion and deterioration of highway-related and automotive-related materials by chloride-containing deicing chemicals has become a major economic problem in the united states. The fhwa has proposed the use of calcium magnesium acetate (cma) as an alternative tothese chloride-containing chemicals (specifically, sodium chloride). This report describes the comparative effects of cma and sodium chloride on various highway-related and automotive-related materials. The results of various exposure techniques, which were followed by extensive additional testing, indicate that cma is much less deleterious to highway-related and automotive-related materials than sodium chloride. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1157, Deicing chemicals and snow control.
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