Embalming chemicals

A mixture of these chemicals is known as embalming fluid and is used to preserve bodies of deceased persons for both funeral purposes and in medical research in anatomical laboratories.

Instead, various chemicals are used to create a mixture, called an arterial solution, which is uniquely generated for the needs of each case.

Embalming fluid is injected into the arterial system of the deceased's abdomen and a trocar is inserted into the body cavity.

During the American Civil War, the Union Army, wanting to transport dead soldiers from the battlefields back home for burial, consulted with Dr. Thomas Holmes, who developed a technique that involved draining a corpse's blood and embalming it with a fluid made with arsenic for preservation.

Some funeral homes produce their own embalming fluids, although this practice has declined in recent decades as commercially available products have become of better quality and more readily available.

Despite genuine concerns, formaldehyde is a naturally occurring substance, of which human beings produce approximately 1.5 oz a day as a normal part of a healthy metabolism.

As a result, the carbon in the formaldehyde molecule bonds with electron-rich nitrogen groups called amines found in plant and animal tissue.

[5] This is the reason for usage of formaldehyde as a preservative, as it thus prevents cellular decay and renders the tissue unsuitable for use as a nutrient source for bacteria.

Formaldehyde is carcinogenic in humans and animals at excessive levels[6][7] because the cross-linking can cause DNA to keep cells from halting the replication process.

[6] Formaldehyde released from the cremation of embalmed bodies enters the atmosphere and can remain suspended for up to 250 hours.

[6] These concerns notwithstanding, according to the American Chemistry Council, formaldehyde, as a ubiquitous chemical produced by living beings, is eminently biodegradable by both sunlight in air and bacteria in soil and water.