Snowbanks harbor aircraft deicer toxics

摘要

The foggy cloud of deicing spray enveloping an airplane before takeoff on a wintry day helps ensure a safe flight,but it leaves behind an environmental legacy of endocrine disrupters and toxic compounds.Now,a new study finds that the environmental risk of the various aircraft deicer components may be more difficult to assess than previously thought.Steven Corsi of the U.S.Geological Survey in Middleton,Wis.,and colleagues show in a study published in this issue of ES&T (pp 3195-3202)that snowbanks retain toxic compounds after the deicer's main ingredient,glycol,has already been lost in runoff.