********************************************************************************
RIP – rest in (freeze-dried) pieces - The Scotsman
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotlan ... 5012406.jp
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RIP – rest in (freeze-dried) pieces
Published Date: 25 February 2009
By Jenny Haworth
BODIES could be freeze-dried and shattered into dust to save space and help the environment, under plans being considered by a Scottish local authority.
East Lothian Council thinks the technique, invented in Sweden, could help ease cemetery congestion, while cutting emissions from cremations.
The process would involve freezing the dead body to -18C before submerging it in liquid nitrogen.
This would make the body so brittle it would disintegrate into dust when a vibration was passed through it.
Stuart Pryde, the council's principal amenities officer, told community councillors that space in graveyards in East Lothian could run out within decades, and that freezing was a serious option for the future rather than building new crematoria.
He said: "There is a new system being developed where they basically freeze-dry you, hit you with a hammer and you break into dust, so there are no gas emissions – nothing.
"The end process is the same, in as much as there is a casket which can be buried or scattered or whatever, but it does not have the need for -emitting furnaces. It is a very, very clean way of getting the same result."
He added that it was particularly relevant to Musselburgh, because Inveresk Cemetery could not be extended.
Musselburgh councillor John Caldwell said that the freezing technology was one of several possibilities the council was looking at.
He said: "We are facing a big problem in the near future in regards to burial sites and there are all kinds of difficulties in finding new land.
"The freezing idea is not anything definite and is just one of a few ideas being tossed around at the moment, like the possibility of leasing burial plots for a set number of years."
The process, known as promession, is considered more environmentally friendly than cremation, largely because it avoids the mercury pollution created by burning fillings in teeth and other metal objects in the body, such as replacement joints or surgical implants.
Exposure to mercury is linked to damage to the brain, nervous system and fertility, and crematoria are believed to be one of the main sources of mercury pollution in the UK.
A spokeswoman for the council acknowledged the process might not be popular with some. "It's considered to be a very environmentally friendly way of doing it, but of course some people think it sounds dreadful to be freeze-dried," she said.
"Who knows, in the future something like that might become as acceptable as cremations. When crematoria were first invented they were also not considered acceptable."
Duncan McLaren, the chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, praised the council for considering the environmental impact of disposing of bodies.
"There are certainly a lot of concerns about crematoria," he said.
"You have got hazardous emissions from the smoke stack. There's a metal component in amalgam used in teeth, as well as in pacemakers.
"Another concern is that like other species, human bodies are increasingly riddled with chemical substances. Like any other combustion source this can be of serious local concern."
However, he suggested East Lothian Council should carry out more research before moving ahead with the technology, to make sure that the energy used to cool the body to -18C did not negate the environmental benefit.
"We are not living in an environment where that is a natural temperature, so it's going to be using energy.
"I would encourage them to do a full life-cycle analysis of the process, taking into consideration the energy and material costs, before coming to a final decision."
A spokeswoman for the Church of Scotland said it would have no concerns about the technique being used.
"It would not in any way cause us a problem," she said.
"It wouldn't in any way be unethical."
A draft strategy on cemetery provision will soon be put out for consultation by East Lothian Council.
It's your funeral…and it's odourless and environmentally friendly
SUSANNE Wiigh-Mäsak, the biologist who invented the promession process, said: "The main principle of this ecological form of burial is that the corpse is transformed into an organic, odourless, hygienic powder. This, in combination with a dedicated method to separate contaminants such as mercury, sharply reduces impact on the environment in comparison with today's forms of burial.
"The use of cryogenic technology in the process reduces the impact on the air we breathe, since there are no emissions of smoke or mercury to the air.
"Mercury emissions in particular are a serious problem for which no acceptable solution has been found.
"Even the greenhouse effect, which has increased in pace with man's use of fossil fuels, is reduced by using liquid nitrogen instead of combustibles. The burial itself takes place in a shallow grave, in the upper mulch-forming layers of the soil.
"Here we find life-giving oxygen and the busy little break-down specialists, the micro-organisms that are the basis for our existence, at the same time as they are a prerequisite to the process of decomposition.
"The coffin and its contents are transformed into mulch in about half a year, thus becoming an important contribution to the living earth. In this way, ecological burial does not add to eutrophication of the seas via ground water or run-off, and vital drinking water is spared.
"Since the remains do not cause any impact on the environment, this should also lift restrictions making it possible to place gravesites freely; in the home, on family property or other places with emotional ties to the deceased and next of kin."
[Retrieved: Wed Feb 25 2009 11:22:11 GMT+0000 (GMT Standard Time)]
###################