Growing up, kids often look at freshly fallen snow as nature’s ice-cream. Whether they eat it as is, or actually take it inside to flavor and eat as snow cones, the white stuff holds great appeal.
In New York City, it is pretty hard to gather clean snow. What starts out as pristine and white, quickly becomes grey mush as the urban grit takes over. Elsewhere, the snow in back yards and open fields gives the illusion of purity. But is it really pure? What exactly is in our snow, and could it be hazardous to our health?
NPR’s The Salt spoke to several scientists to get their take on the snow situation.
Jeff S. Gaffney of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock shed some light on the issue.
Snow contains primarily water, with hints of various pollutants such as nitrates, sulfates, mercury and formaldahyde. As the intricately structured flakes pass through the atmosphere, they form a net of sorts, catching black carbon, or soot along the way.
According to John Pomeroy of the University of Saskatchewan, it is suggested that one wait for the snow to fall for a few hours before gathering it up for consumption. The snow flakes scrub the atmosphere of pollutants, making the air and the snow itself cleaner and less polluted.
On a windy day, the snow mixes at lower levels with the soil on the ground. In areas like the Great Plains, the snow picks up whatever is in the soil and dust. If the area has recently been fertilized, that manure gets into the snow. And of course we all know not to eat the yellow snow at all costs!
In the city, all kinds of dirt, grit and chemicals mix with the snow making it less than palatable. Plowed snow, should never be eaten, due to all the contaminents that get mixed into it.
Despite the risks for contamination, most of the researchers agreed, that freshly fallen, unplowed country snow, holds no real risk. Dr. Pomeroy states that ” it is well-known amongst snow chemists that freshly fallen Arctic snow goes very well with 15-year-old single malt whisky.”
Now that’s a snow cone!
Photo: Glasshouse Images
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Tags: eating snow, Jeff S. Gaffney, John Pomeroy, NPR, purity of snow, researchers, snow, snow cones, The Salt
Indigo jones 
February 17, 2016 at 11:09 am |
Very interesting! I love the single malt whiskey snow cone. That is nature’s ice cream with a twist. Thank you for this post! I learned something new.
February 17, 2016 at 1:02 pm |
Snow is predicted again for next week! Enjoy your boozy snow cone and let me know how it is! I prefer something sweeter in this case..Bailey’s snow cones?
February 17, 2016 at 1:14 pm
Sounds good to me!
March 12, 2016 at 12:38 am |
A blizzard! The hottest year ever! More signs that global warming and its extreme effects are beyond debate, right? Not even close.