Mortuary Muse

Is the phrase, “How Do I Love Thee...Let Me Count The Ways,” about to be replaced with, “How Can I Dispose of Your Body...Let Me Count The Ways”? Recently two civilian-type Dead Beat readers, from Oklahoma, sent me an AP article about alkaline hydrolysis, a method of safely dissolving animal tissue and medical waste. Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and University of Florida, Gainesville use this process to dispose of research cadavers.

Chad Corbin, a funeral director in Manchester, New Hampshire was reported to be considering installing the equipment as a cremation replacement. New Hampshire and Minnesota were said to be the only states that permit it at this time. He has not completed the permitting process and indicated he would charge about the same as cremation even though it would cost more (about $300,000) to install the equipment.

BioSafe Engineering of Brownsburg, Indiana makes the equipment, “Tissue Digester ™” which will reduce animal, medical tissue waste or cadavers to coffee colored liquid the consistency of motor oil and dry bone material about like cremains. The brown liquid may be safely released down the drain and bone material handled as normal cremains. The process involves loading the material to be reduced and sterilized into a horizontal cylinder which then uses water, chemicals, steam heat and pressure. According to BioSafe’s website a fully loaded cylinder takes about three hours to complete the alkaline hydrolysis of the pathological material. The entire process including loading and cooling might be five to eight hours depending on the quality of the steam.

BioSafe Engineering’s WR (2) Tissue Digester ™ System technology is written into EU law as the method of disposing of Mad Cow Disease infectious animal waste. The process also inactivates the prions. Brad Crain company president said 40 to 50 of their cylinders are in use by veterinary schools, universities, pharmaceutical companies and the U.S. Government.

A link at BioSafe Engineering’s website takes you to Resomation.com, which is the website for Resomation, Ltd. of Glasgow, Scotland, e-mail: info@resomation.com. Resomation Ltd. features their version of “Bio Cremation...creating ash without flames.” They explain the process of Alkaline Hydrolysis using their equipment which is called the Resomator. For an average body they use about 15 liters of chemical, potassium hydroxide in liquid form, and 350 liters of water. Steam heats the water to 350 degrees with pressure in the cylinder to speed up the process.

BioSafe Engineering says their equipment ranges in size from 11 pound capacity up to and beyond 10,000 pounds. Proponents claim that Alkaline Hydrolysis is environmentally superior to cremation because of lack of emissions and less fuel needed for the small amount of steam heat. The resulting brownish liquid is sterile with a mild ammonia odor and could be safely poured on the ground. The shadow dry bone that is left easily crushes to small fragments or powder. Embalming chemical residue is also broken down to harmless components within the water. (I wonder if the logistics of disposing or moving 350 liters of liquid might offset some of the green benefits. Most sewer systems use electric motors on pumps throughout their operating systems.) The destruction of pathological tissue from Mad Cow Disease and the inactivation of the deadly prions by Alkaline Hydrolysis is certainly something to consider.

Many people think that medical donation is the ultimate end disposition. Few realize that at least some of the parts are going to be cremated or maybe dissolved and flushed down the drain.

About the Author:

Lowell Pugh has funeral director and embalmer licenses in Missouri and Texas and continues the operation of the 104-year-old family funeral home. He is publisher of The Dead Beat which began in 1999. He can be contacted at The Dead Beat address.