The term secondary environmental impact refers, inter alia, to the environmental impact which may arise if, because vehicles etc. become dirtier, they have to be cleaned more often and this increases the emissions of vehicle care products. The aim is to find out whether winter road salting affects wash frequency, the use of car cleaners and corrosion. Compilation of the responses shows that there are significant differences in the care of cars between the island of Gotland (unsalted) and the Swedish mainland opposite Gotland (salted), and between part of Vaesterbotten County (lightly salted) and part of Vaesterbotten (salted). It is considered that if salt application was discontinued, wash frequency would be cut by ca 30 percent and the use of degreasers and screen wash fluid would be reduced by 40-70 percent. Responses were received from 1,587 car owners, 70 percent of the sample. (Author/publisher) For the Swedish version see C 11777 S (IRRD 899855)
Abstract