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When an embalmed body is buried and decays, the embalming fluid can seep into the ground and affect the surrounding soil and water ecosystems. Since the majority of embalming fluid is comprised largely of formaldehyde, it is the chemical that has the most dramatic effect on its surroundings. The fluid that is injected into the veins of the cadaver is up to 5% formaldehyde while the fluid injected into the body cavity is up to 50%. Formaldehyde works to stiffen the tissue of the cadaver, allowing the mortician to pose the body. This is the characteristic that also makes formaldehyde hazardous when encountered in the environment. The carbon atom in formaldehyde, CH2O, carries a slightly positive charge due to the high electronegativity of the oxygen double bonded with the carbon. The slightly electropositive carbon is unstable and wants to react with a negatively charged molecule. As a result, the carbon in the formaldehyde molecule bonds with negatively charged nitrogen groups called amines found in plant and animal tissue. This leads to formaldehyde cross-linking, bonding proteins with other proteins and DNA, rendering them dysfunctional or no longer useful as shown in the figure. Formaldehyde is featured on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s list of top 10% worst hazardous chemicals for damaging the environment.〔 It is carcinogenic in humans and animals because the cross-linking can cause DNA to keep cells from halting the replication process.This unwarranted replication of cells is what can lead to cancer developing.〔 Unicellular organisms found in the soil and groundwater are also quite sensitive to cross-linking, experiencing damage at a concentration of 0.3 mg to 22 mg per liter.〔 Formaldehyde also affects aquatic invertebrates, with crustaceans being the most sensitive type. The range of concentration damaging them is 0.4 mg to 20 mg per liter.〔 Studies also show that formaldehyde has been known to injure some marine plant life and kill the root systems of some small plants.〔 Formaldehyde released from the cremation of embalmed cadavers enters the atmosphere and remains suspended for up to 250 hours.〔 It is readily soluble〔〔 in water so it will bond with moisture in the atmosphere and rain down onto plants, animals, and water supplies below. As a result, formaldehyde content in precipitation can range from 110 μg to 1380 μg per liter.〔 The growing awareness of the negative effects of embalming fluid on the environment has caused some people to consider green burials where either no harsh chemicals are used in the embalming process〔 or there is no embalming process at all. == References == 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Environmental effects of embalming chemicals」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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