Embalming

Embalming, in most modern cultures, is the art and science used to temporarily preserve human remains to forestall decomposition and make it suitable for display at a funeral. It has a long history, and other cultures had embalming processes that had much greater religious meaning.

Table of contents [hide]

1 History Of Embalming 2 Modern Embalming 3 Embalming Chemicals 4 Specialist Embalming

History Of Embalming

Embalming has been in many cultures. In classical antiquity, perhaps the Old World culture that had developed embalming to the greatest extent was that of ancient Egypt, who developed the process of mummification. They believed that preservation of the mummy empowered the soul after death, which would return to the preserved corpse.
Other cultures that had developed embalming processes include the Incas and other cultures of Peru, whose climate also favoured a form of mummification.
Embalming in Europe had a much more sporadic existence. It was attempted from time to time, especially during the Crusades, when crusading noblemen wished to have their bodies preserved for burial closer to home.
Contemporary embalming methods advanced markedly during the American Civil War, which once again involved many servicemen dying far from home, and their families wishing them returned for local burial. Dr. Thomas N. Holmes received a commission from the Army Medical Corps to embalm the corpses of dead Union servicemen to return to their families. Military authorities also permitted private embalmers to work in military-controlled areas.
In 1867, the German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann discovered formaldehyde, whose preservative properties were soon discovered and which became the foundation for modern methods of embalming.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries arsenic was frequently used as an embalming fluid but has since been supplanted by other more effective and less toxic chemicals. There were questions about the possibility of arsenic from embalmed bodies later contaminating ground water supplies. There were also legal concerns as people suspected of murder by arsenic poisoning could claim that the levels of poison in the deceased's body were a result of embalming post mortem rather than evidence of homicide.

Modern Embalming

Embalming as practiced in the funeral homes of the Western World uses several steps. Modern embalming techniques are not the result of a single practitioner, but rather the accumulation of many decades, even centuries, of research, trial and error and invention. A standardized version follows below but variation on techniques is very common.
The first thing an embalmer should do is verify the identity of the deceased (normally via wrist or leg tags) and perform basic tests for signs of death, such as clouded-over corneas, lividity and rigor mortis. While people awakening on the mortuary table is largely the province of horror fiction and urban myth , testing for death is still a final additional precaution. Any clothing on the corpse is removed and set aside; jewelry, also, is inventoried. A modesty cloth is then placed over the deceased's genitalia for dignity. Following this the corpse is washed in disinfecting and germicidal solutions, shaved, and groomed. The embalmer bends, flexes and massages the arms and legs to relieve rigor mortis. The eyes are closed and kept closed with an eyecap that keeps them shut and in the proper expression. The mouth may be sewn shut, and a device is also employed to allow the embalmer to set the facial expression of the corpse. The process of closing the mouth, eyes, shaving etc is collectively known as setting the features.
The actual embalming process usually involves four parts:

• arterial embalming, which involves the injection of embalming chemicals into the blood vessels, usually via the right common carotid artery. Blood is drained from the right jugular vein. The embalming solution is injected using an embalming machine and the embalmer massages the corpse to ensure a proper distribution of the embalming fluid. In case of poor circulation, other injection points are used;

• cavity embalming, the suction of the internal fluids of the corpse and the injection of embalming chemicals into body cavities, using an aspirator and trocar. The embalmer makes a small incision just above the navel and pushes the trocar in the chest and stomach cavities to puncture the hollow organs and aspirate their contents. He then fills the cavities with concentrated chemicals. The incision is either sutured closed or a "trocar button" is screwed into place.

• hypodermic embalming, the injection of embalming chemicals under the skin as needed; and

• surface embalming, which supplements the other methods, especially for visible, injured body parts.

Most good embalmings are completed in two or three hours, although an easy case may take less and complicated cases can take days.
After the deceased is rewashed and dried, cosmetics are then applied to make it appear more living and create a "memory picture" for the deceased's friends and relatives. In the United States an oily foundation is placed on the visible areas of the skin, and theatrical or mortuary cosmetics are placed on the corpse. Mortuary cosmetizing is not done for the same reason as make-up for living people. Rather it is designed to the add depth and dimension to a person's features that the lack of blood circulation removes. Warm areas, where blood vessels in living people are superficial, such as the cheeks, chin and knuckles have subtle reds added to recreate this effect while browns are added to the palpabrae (eyelids) to add depth, especially important as viewing in a coffin creates an unusual perspective rarely seen in everyday life.
A photograph of the dead person in good health is often sought, in order to guide the embalmer's hand in restoring the corpse to a more lifelike appearance. Blemishes and discolorations (such as bruises, in which the discolouration is not in the circulatory system and cannot be removed is arterial injection) occasioned by the last illness, the settling of blood, or the embalming process itself are also dealt with at this time. Various funeral homes have different practices as to whether the corpse will be clothed during the time of application of the cosmetics, or whether the cosmetics will be applied first and the corpse clothed afterwards.
As for clothing the body, tradition has been for the decedant to wear semi-formal clothing (a suit jacket and tie for men; a dress for women); however, in more recent years, the family often chooses to dress the decedant in more casual wear (such as a T-shirt and blue jeans), especially if the deceased was young.
In many areas of Europe, the custom of dressing the body in an especially designed shroud rather than in clothing used by the living is preferred.
After the corpse has been dressed, it is placed in the coffin for the various funeral rites. It is common for photographs, notes, cards and favourite personal items to be placed in the coffin with the deceased. Even bulky and expensive items, such as electric guitars, are occasionally interred with a body.
The foregoing describes the usual process for "cosmetic" embalming, wherein long-term preservation is not the goal; rather the natural appearance of the body is paramount.

Embalming Chemicals

Simply explained, embalming fluid acts to "fix" (technically denature) cellular proteins which means that they cannot act as a nutrient source for bacteria and it also kills the bacteria themselves. Modern embalming is not done with a single fluid. Rather various different chemicals are used to create a mixture called an arterial solution which is generated specifically for the needs of each case. For example a body needing to be repatriated overseas needs a higher index (percentage of diluted preservative chemical) than one simply viewing (known in the United States and Canada as a funeral visitation) at a funeral home before cremation.
Potential ingredients in an arterial solution include:

• Preservative (Arterial) Chemical. These are commonly a percentage (18%-35%) based mixture of formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde or in some cases phenol which are then diluted to gain the final index of the arterial solution. Formalin refers specifically to 40% aqueous formaldehyde and is not commonly used in funeral embalming but rather in the preservation of anatomical specimens.

• Water Conditioner. These are designed to balance the "hardness" of water (the presence of other trace chemicals that changes the water's pH or neutrality) and to help reduce the deceased's acidity, a by-product of decomposition, as formaldehyde works best in an alkaline environment.

• Cell Conditioner. These chemicals act to prepare cells for absorption of arterial fluid and help break up clots in the bloodstream.

• Dyes. These are use to restore someone's natural colouration and counterstain against conditions such as jaundice.

• Humectants. These are added to dehydrated and emaciated bodies to help restore tissue to a more natural and hydrated appearance.

• Anti-Edemic Chemicals. The opposite of humectants these are designed to draw excessive fluid (edema) from a body.

• Additional Disinfectants. For certain cases, such as tissue gas, specialist chemicals normally used topically such as Dis-Spray are added to an arterial solution.

• Water. Most arterial solutions are a mix of some of the preceding chemicals with tepid water. Cases done without the addition of water are referred to specifically as waterless. Waterless embalming is very effective but not economically viable for everyday cases.

• Cavity Fluid. This is a generally a very high index formaldehyde or glutaraldehyde solution injected undiluted directly via the trocar incision into the body cavities to treat the viscera. In cases of tissue gas phenol based products are often used instead.

Specialist Embalming

Decomposing bodies, trauma cases, frozen and drowned bodies, and those to be transported for long distances also require special treatment beyond that for the "normal" case. The recreation of bodies and features damaged by accident or disease is commonly called restorative art and is a sub-speciality inside embalming, although all qualified embalmers have some degree of training and practise in it. It is on these cases that the benefit of embalming is startlingly apparent. Many people have unreal expectation of what a dead body should look like due to seeing many "dead" bodies on television shows and the work of a skilled embalmer often results in the deceased looking like they have done nothing at all as the deceased appears so lifelike.
Embalming autopsy cases differs from standard embalming as the nature of the post mortem irrevocably disrupts the circulatory system with the removal of organs for examination. In these cases a six point injection is made via the two femoral arteries, axillary vessels and common carotids, with the viscera treated separately with cavity fluid in a viscera bag. In many mortuaries in the United States (such as the Los Angeles County Coroners Office) and New Zealand these necessary vessels are carefully preserved in the autopsy process while in other countries such as Australia, where embalming has been less common historically, they are routinely excised. This lead to an inability to properly embalm the deceased for the family and is a common source of conflict between government pathologists and embalmers there.
Long-term preservation requires different techniques, such as using stronger preservative chemicals, multiple injection sites to ensure thorough saturation of body tissues, and -in the case of a body to be used for anatomical dissection- taking no blood drainage and doing no treatment of the internal organs.
It should be remembered that embalming is only meant to temporarily preserve the body of a deceased person. Regardless of whether or not embalming is performed, the type of burial or entombment, and the materials used - such as wood or metal caskets and vaults - the body of the deceased will eventually decompose. Modern embalming is done to delay decomposition so that funeral services may take place.