[4] The death care industry in the United States is controversial due to the exorbitant costs of services, as well as the adverse impact of common U.S. funeral practices.
[4] The practices of death care companies are frequently supported by onerous state regulations that hike up prices and worsen environmental effects.
[4] The advent of embalming in the normal course of preparation of corpses for burial led directly to the transition of death care from a job predominately performed by women at home to an industry.
[5] During the Civil War, hundreds of soldiers died away from home and the process of embalming aided in preserving the bodies until they could be transported for burial.
[5] Early techniques in embalming were primitive: an article in 1898, written in the Journal of Medicine and Science criticized and brought to attention the manner in which the arsenic used to preserve corpses had leached into the soil and the groundwater near cemeteries.
[8][9] Embalming emerged during the Civil War since many soldiers were dying on the battlefield and their families wanted their bodies sent back home for burial.
[7] The push for embalming occurred simultaneously with the move away from families caring for the dead and for undertakers to organize themselves as "professionals".
The book was released at a time when consumer consciousness and empowerment altered Americans' buying and spending habits.
[11] Due to the response to Mitford's book, the Federal Trade Commission began its own investigation of the death care industry in the 1970s.
[14] The operations that run at cemeteries include interment rights, burial and memorial products, as well as grounds maintenance.
[14] A number of factors make this business unique from the customer's point of view, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
[3] Enough embalming fluid is buried every year to fill eight Olympic-size pools; the industry uses more steel (in caskets alone) than was used to build the Golden Gate Bridge; and it annually uses enough reinforced concrete to construct a two-lane highway from New York to Detroit.
[21] The industry is experiencing a recent trend toward cremation as opposed to the traditional funeral and burial services due to lower costs and increased value.
[24][25] The only time that cremation is acceptable in the Islamic faith is when there are breakouts or epidemics of disease and infection or if there is not enough room for burial, as is the case in much of India.
[27] There are two major values that the Jewish community embraces when dealing with death and dying: kavod hamet and nichum avelim.
If memorial services are utilized, the body is typically cremated immediately following or donated for educational and scientific purposes.