Quote:
Originally Posted by joe_db
Actually marine life does not care about pink vs. green. Unless you plan to dump it some place where dogs, cats, or humans might drink it, don't worry about it. Fish don't care. It's a mammal thing  |
While that's true, it still causes oxygen depletion, and the anaerobic breakdown products
are toxic to aquatic life.
From Wikipedia:
Ethylene glycol involved in aircraft de-icing and anti-icing operations is released onto land and eventually to waterways.[12] A report prepared for the World Health Organization in 2000 stated that laboratory tests exposing aquatic organisms to stream water receiving runoff from airports have shown toxic effects and death (p. 12).[73] Field studies in the vicinity of an airport have reported toxic signs consistent with ethylene glycol poisoning, fish kills, and reduced biodiversity, although those effects could not definitively be ascribed to ethylene glycol (p. 12).[73] The process of biodegrading of glycols also increases the risk to organisms, as oxygen levels become depleted in surface waters (p. 13).[73] Another study found the toxicity to aquatic and other organisms was relatively low, but the oxygen-depletion effect of biodegradation was more serious (p. 245).[74] Further, "Anaerobic biodegradation may also release relatively toxic byproducts such as acetaldehyde, ethanol, acetate, and methane (p. 245)."[74]