Damn Luddites

[genlock]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The state won’t allow an Ohio funeral director to continue using a cremation alternative that liquefies bodies.

Jeff Edwards and his Edwards Funeral Service in Columbus use heat and lye to turn body tissue into liquid that goes into the sewers. The bones are crushed, and the fragments are given to the family.

The National Funeral Directors Association tells The Columbus Dispatch the alkaline hydrolysis process is greener and cheaper than cremation. Association spokeswoman Jessica Koth says funeral homes in several states are seeking to offer the procedure.

But the Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors and the state Department of Health say burial and cremation are the only approved methods for disposing of a body in Ohio. Edwards says he plans to sue.

[CoolBreeze]

A 300°F solution of a strong base, in this case lye (sodium hydroxide), is sprayed on a body at 60 pounds of pressure per square inch in what looks sort of like a body-shaped stainless steel pressure cooker. The base hydrolyzes the tissues, leaving a syrupy brown liquid and some bone residue. The bone residue is collected and dried, if desired, similar to the collection of cremated remains.

In the case of animal and human carcasses, the solution is washed down the drain. There are two medical centers using the equipment for research cadavers (University of Florida in Gainesville and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN). They flush the remains, too. Although the solution has a strong odor of soap, it is sterile and does not pose a threat to the water supply.

The equipment for alkaline hydrolysis is a little more expensive than what you need for cremation, but the process may be more environmental friendly than cremation, which releases carbon dioxide and mercury from dental amalgams. The sodium hydroxide solution may be less troublesome than the blood and leftover embalming fluid washed down the drain when a body is prepared for burial.

This system has been used for animals and cadavers going back about 20 years.

[lastone]

Naw, longer than that. Jimmy Hoffa was the first to be "processed" this way.

Solyent Green turned the 'sluge' into protein snacks.

just sayin'

[AmpedNow]

We're drinkin' dead people!