New research explored the environmental impacts of an alternative to road salt—potassium acetate, which is effective on ice at lower temperatures. Minnesota’s winter roads have been effectively treated for decades with chloride-based mixtures for anti-icing and deicing. Salt, however, corrodes steel in vehicles and infrastructure. Additionally, chloride runoff harms the aquatic environment. For example, up to 70% of road salt applied on Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area roads ends up in groundwater aquifers and nearby lakes, many of which exceed regulatory limits for chloride concentrations.