Since they first walked the planet, humans have either buried or burned their dead. Now a new option is generating interest – dissolving bodies and flushing the brownish, syrupy residue down the drain.
The process is called alkaline hydrolysis and was developed in the U.S. 16 years ago to get rid of animal carcasses. It uses lye, 150 degree Celsius heat and 60 pounds of pressure a square inch to destroy bodies in big stainless-steel cylinders that are similar to pressure cookers.
Getting the public to accept a process that strikes some as ghastly may be the biggest challenge.
Alkaline hydrolysis does not take up as much space in cemeteries as burial. The process could also ease concerns about crematorium emissions, including carbon dioxide and mercury from silver dental fillings – AP
Excerpt from “New Idea in Mortuary Science: Dissolving Bodies”, The Hindu, Madurai, May 10, 2008
The process is called alkaline hydrolysis and was developed in the U.S. 16 years ago to get rid of animal carcasses. It uses lye, 150 degree Celsius heat and 60 pounds of pressure a square inch to destroy bodies in big stainless-steel cylinders that are similar to pressure cookers.
Getting the public to accept a process that strikes some as ghastly may be the biggest challenge.
Alkaline hydrolysis does not take up as much space in cemeteries as burial. The process could also ease concerns about crematorium emissions, including carbon dioxide and mercury from silver dental fillings – AP
Excerpt from “New Idea in Mortuary Science: Dissolving Bodies”, The Hindu, Madurai, May 10, 2008
About "Mortuary Science" from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortuary_Science
Grateful thanks to AP and The Hindu and Wikipedia.
Grateful thanks to AP and The Hindu and Wikipedia.
No comments:
Post a Comment