UK firm: Don't burn bodies, boil them
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LONDON, Aug. 5 A British company says it has an eco-friendly alternative to cremation: boiling bodies into dust.
In the process, called resomation, the body is encased in a silk coffin and submerged in water mixed with potassium hydroxide. It is then heated to 302 degrees Fahrenheit, which rapidly turns it into a white dust, The Mail on Sunday reported.
The process is more eco-friendly than cremation, during which a body is heated to 2,192 degrees Fahrenheit, letting off harmful fumes such as mercury, according to Resomation, the firm selling the boiling process. Instead, the company says, it is essentially a much faster version of natural decomposition.
Resomation also is affordable, costing about $600, the same as a cremation, the company said.
British authorities, who are encouraging alternatives to traditional burials for space reasons, have said they will consider any proposals.
About a thousand bodies in the United States have already been processed with resomation. Copyright 2007 by UPI
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Another option
By:
Narhan ,
Fri, 17 Aug 2007 23:02:16 GMT
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Then again, if you really want to be eco-friendly, there is always the green burial option. Probably not a popular choice for those who make money selling coffins, liners, headstones, potassium hydroxide, etc., but it is an option nonetheless.
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'Boiling'
By:
sandy sullivan ,
Wed, 08 Aug 2007 12:52:50 GMT
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I am the founder of Resomation Ltd who make this equipment. The newspapers have coined the phrase "boiling" the body. It is not! It is a chemical hydrolysis (with added alkali)at high temperature 170C with the body immersed in water. Boiling is a phase change where water is turned to steam.This system is under high pressure and boiling does not happen.The body tissues are rapidly (within 30 minutes "resolved" into liquid and back to their original organic building blocks.It is a very efficient speeded up version of natural decomposition and the liquid can be applied on horticultral land if desired.The liquid produced has a very slight and innocuous odour of soap! It certainly is not cooking or boiling as the tissues are rapidly turned into a natural based chemical liquid as would be found at the end of a natural decomposition albeit it might take a year or more. It is certainly less violent ,destructive ,contaminating and energy consuming than cremation.
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