Common Uses for Magnesium Chloride

Magnesium chloride is a versatile compound with a number of uses in food preparation, health and personal well-being areas, road care and industry, according to Serving History. A naturally occurring salt, magnesium chloride may be harvested from lakes and shore deposits. Rather than overlooking it as a non-table salt, you may find it beneficial to consider all the ways that magnesium chloride can be used in your daily life.

Food Preparation

Magnesium chloride is popularly used in food preparation, particularly in Asian communities and children's formulas. Magnesium chloride works as a coagulant agent on liquid forms of soy, helping the material solidify into tofu according to Serving History.

Health Supplement

Magnesium chloride is commonly used as a supplement. It is the primary supplement compound used to help raise magnesium levels in the body, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements. Magnesium itself is responsible for more than 300 biochemical processes in your body, and magnesium chloride supplements are one of the more effective ways to raise your body's levels of bioavailable magnesium.

De-Icing Agent

Interestingly, magnesium chloride is one of the world's more popular de-icing agents. The Montana Department of Transportation describes the normal manner for using magnesium chloride on roads, which is to use a liquid form of the chemical and spray it over roadways in advance of a temperature drop below the freezing point. This prevents ice forming on the road. However, magnesium chloride may also be sprayed on or applied in rock salt form after ice has formed, to remove ice buildup from roadways, driveways and sidewalks.

Industrial Production

Along with its health and public safety uses, magnesium chloride is also used in a number of industrial processes, including textile production. The journal "Water Research" notes that among the environmental industry applications of magnesium chloride, it is also used as an industrial dye and dye waste remover. It is particularly common in printing mills and other paper textile manufacturing centers, where it is used to neutralize and clean wastewater byproducts.