Embalming In Ancient Egypt

The practice of embalming traces its roots back to ancient Egypt and became better known in the United States after the Civil War. The practice of embalming is mostly used in the United States in order to preserve the body of soldiers that were killed in action for the transportation back into the states. From the article, it states that the practice of embalming fueled the funeral industry in a way of making death more pleasing for people that feared it. However, the act of embalming is harmful to the environment and causes negative impacts on the environment. The article states that there were elevated levels of arsenic in the groundwater, and also higher levels of copper, zinc, and lead due to the use of caskets. The article also states
that with the current trend in embalming it approximately puts seven million gallons of formaldehyde into the soil each year. The articles main focus is on the dangerous effects of formaldehyde in the environment and to public health. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer formaldehyde is now known as a human carcinogen from ever since 2004 and the Occupational Safety of Health Administration placed formaldehyde on a list of toxic chemicals. The article also states with exposure to formaldehyde it increases the risk of brain cancer and leukemia. Also according to the article those that are embalmers are inclined to suffering from chronic bronchitis, eye and skin irritation, cancer of the skin, brain, colon, nose, throat, and blood.
It can also result in kidney failure, arteriosclerotic heart disease, cirrhosis of the liver, and chromosomal damage. According to the article, even though the impacts of formaldehyde is not that well known on the environment, it is known that formaldehyde has killed and injured marine plant life including the root systems of some plants. The article also goes into how the practice of embalming is a form of psychological benefit because it lets the mourning family create a memory picture that will help them deal with the grieving process. The article also goes into how there are also other alternatives than embalming such as freezing the body, or packing the body with dry ice and putting the body in a water proof pouch with lime. According to the article, there are situations were embalming maybe used and in this case it’s in situations for medical students when they have to work with cadavers. With that, if embalming was not an everyday necessity for people, then there would not be and problems with living next to cemeteries due to the exposure of formaldehyde in the air and long term health problems would be avoided due to no formaldehyde being present. Overall, with the current trend with formaldehyde and embalming, it may not be a problem now but as time passes, the impacts of
formaldehyde within the environment and on public health will start to show.