Alkaline hydrolysis (also called biocremation, resomation, flameless cremation, or water cremation) is a process for the disposal of human remains which produces less carbon dioxide and pollutants than cremation. The process is being marketed as an alternative to the traditional options of burial or cremation.
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Process
The process is based on alkaline hydrolysis: the body is placed in a pressure vessel that is then filled with a mixture of water and lye, and heated to a temperature around 160 °C (320 °F), but at an elevated pressure, which prevents boiling. Instead, the body is effectively broken down into its chemical components, which takes approximately four to six hours. A lower temperature and pressure may be used, but at a longer duration (98 °C (208 °F), 14 to 16 hours). At the beginning of the process, the mixture is strongly basic, with a pH level of approximately 14; pH drops to 11 by the end, but the final pH level depends on the total operation time and the amount of fat in the body.
The end result is a quantity of green-brown tinted liquid (containing amino acids, peptides, sugars and salts) and soft, porous white bone remains (calcium phosphate) easily crushed in the hand (although a cremulator is more commonly used) to form a white-colored dust. The "ash" can then be returned to the next of kin of the deceased. The liquid is disposed of either through the sanitary sewer system, or through some other method, including use in a garden or green space. To dispose of 1,000 pounds (450 kg), approximately 60-240 US gallons (230-910 l; 50-200 imp gal) of water are used, resulting in 120-300 US gallons (450-1,140 l; 100-250 imp gal) of effluent, which carries a dried weight of 20 pounds (9.1 kg) (approximately 2% of original weight).
This alkaline hydrolysis process has been championed by a number of ecological campaigning groups, for using 90 kW-hr of electricity, one-quarter the energy of flame-based cremation and producing less carbon dioxide and pollutants. It also produces no mercury emissions. It is being presented as an alternative option at some British crematorium sites. As of August 2007, about 1,000 people had chosen this method for the disposition of their remains in the United States. Excluding the capital investment cost of equipment, the operating cost of materials, maintenance, and labor associated with the disposal of 2,000 pounds (910 kg) of remains was estimated at $116.40.
Alkaline hydrolysis has also been adopted by the pet and animal industry. A handful of companies in North America offer the procedure as an alternative to pet cremation. Alkaline hydrolysis is also used in the agricultural industry to sterilize animal carcasses that may pose a health hazard because the process inactivates viruses, bacteria, and transmissible spongiform encephalopathy.
History
The process was originally developed as a method to process animal carcasses into plant food, patented by Amos Herbert Hobson in 1888.
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Religious views
In Christian countries and cultures, cremation has historically been discouraged, but now in many denominations it is accepted.
The Roman Catholic Church permits ordinary cremation of bodies as long as it is not done in denial of the beliefs in the sacredness of the human body or the resurrection of the dead.
When alkaline hydrolysis was proposed in New York state the New York State Catholic Conference condemned the practice, stating that hydrolysis does not show sufficient respect for the teaching of the intrinsic dignity of the human body.
Legal status
United States
Alkaline hydrolysis as a method of final disposition of human remains is currently legal in fourteen states, including Oregon, Minnesota, Maryland, Maine, Kansas, Illinois, Florida, Colorado, Georgia, Wyoming, Idaho, and Nevada. Additional rules are pending in California, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The process was legal in New Hampshire for several years but amid opposition by religious lobby groups it was banned in 2008 and a proposal to legalize it was rejected in 2013. Alkaline hydrolysis has been used for cadavers donated for research at the University of Florida since the mid 1990s and at the Mayo Clinic since 2005. UCLA uses the process to dispose of donor bodies.
Canada
Saskatchewan approved the process in 2012, becoming the first province to do so. Quebec and Ontario have also legalized the process. A funeral home in Granby, Quebec has become the first to receive an alkaline hydrolysis machine in the province.
United Kingdom
A public crematorium operated by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council at Rowley Regis, central England, was the first to receive planning permission to offer the process but in March 2017 the local water utility, Severn Trent Water, refused the council's application for a "trade effluent permit" because there was no water industry standard regulating the disposal of liquified human remains into sewers.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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