A rival to burial: Dissolving bodies with lye

[Mugu]

AP via MSNBC

CONCORD, N.H. - Since they first walked the planet, humans have either buried or burned their dead. Now a new option is generating interest — dissolving bodies in lye and flushing the brownish, syrupy residue down the drain.

The process is called alkaline hydrolysis and was developed in this country 16 years ago to get rid of animal carcasses. It uses lye, 300-degree heat and 60 pounds of pressure per square inch to destroy bodies in big stainless-steel cylinders that are similar to pressure cookers.

No funeral homes in the U.S. — or anywhere else in the world, as far as the equipment manufacturer knows — offer it. In fact, only two U.S. medical centers use it on human bodies, and only on cadavers donated for research.

But because of its environmental advantages, some in the funeral industry say it could someday rival burial and cremation.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24526431">Complete article

[niyad]

1. flushed down the drain? into our water supply?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Isn't this what they did with the body of the assassin of Garfield?

My grandfather told me this is what they did so that his grave would not become a gathering place for anarchists.

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. Gives a whole new meaning to "throw away society"

Aside from the environmental impact -- I don't imagine many municipal water treatment facilities could handle large quantities of highly alkaline material entering the sewage system -- this just seems wrong. Can't bodies at least be composted or something? Or have we gotten to the point where our dead get the same treatment as egg shells, potato peels and other kitchen waste?

[Poll_Blind]

4. I'm for composting, but I don't think many would go for it. I'm also a little...

...worried about if scavengers were able to consume corpses which contain diseases which can cross species. However, composting would likely be done in such a way that scavengers can't get at the material.

  Until the 'geddon, anyway. MWA HA HA!

PB

[KansDem]

6. Funny you should mention this...

...have we gotten to the point where our dead get the same treatment as egg shells, potato peels and other kitchen waste?

I'm considering having myself cremated and my ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean. Then I read about the north Pacific gyre and the 100 million tons of floating plastic trash there, and now realize my ashes might be clinging to some bleach bottle or zip-lock sandwich bag for all eternity.

[Speck Tater]

5. The "goo" is sterile and less polluting than cremation...

since cremation puts all the same elements into the atmosphere, instead of into the soil where it adds fertilizer (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) and trace minerals in a non-toxic form. Once sterilized, there is nothing toxic in a dead body.

on edit: and the sludge is no longer highly alkaline, but contains ammonia (i.e. nitrogen fertilizer).