ORLANDO — That bit of rust you pass under that overpass might be a bigger deal that you think. Corrosion affects all of our country’s levels of infrastructure, such as roads, buildings and sewer pipes.

The Orlando Science Center exhibit “Corrosion: The Silent Menace” is now open and highlights the effects of corrosion and what society can do to overcome this problem.

The cost of the effect of corrosion today is worth 22.6 billion dollars, according to the Nace International Foundation.

Many were in attendance for the exhibit’s opening, including Congressman Daniel Webster, actor LeVar Burton, the University of Akron and their department of corrosion and its corrosion engineers and representatives from NASA.

Activist and actor, well known for his role on Star Trek, LeVar Burton spoke about the cause and why it was so important.

Most of these guests spoke about corrosion as “the silent menace” and gave their views about this topic.

The exhibit opened many peoples eyes on corrosion and how it’s a problem in today’s society and its negative effects.

Corrosion is the gradual destruction of material, usually metals, by chemical reaction with its environment. In the most common use of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metals in reaction with an oxidant such as oxygen.

The Department of Defense approached the topic by opening an exhibit in the Orlando Science Center not to just explain why corrosion is bad but what people could do to avoid this silent menace.

The exhibit also encouraged STEM focused learning, which includes science, technology, engineering and math in an effort to inspire the next generation of workers.

Believe it or not, corrosion is everywhere. It can increase very rapidly. Corrosion is in our buildings, roads and in our pipes. And it affects our economy for the worse.

Simple ways of avoiding corrosion are manufacturing with better materials and the use of stronger iron and metals.

This exhibit at the Florida Science Center will your eyes to the  “silent menace’’ that is corrosion.

To see the exhibit, visit the Orlando Science Center in Winter Park at 77 E. Princeton Street.

For More information call the Orlando Science Center at 407-514-2000 or visit their website www.osc.org.