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PubMed1997

Does funeral preference influence clinical necropsy request outcome?

Attitudes towards necropsy have been shown to be more favourable amongst those relatives preferring cremation as a method of disposal compared to those with a preference for burial. In a two-year retrospective study, no significant relationship was found between funeral preferences (burial or cremation) and clinical necropsy request outcome when age, sex and religion were taken into account. Potential religious objections to necropsy were infrequent and cremation was found to have become the most popular method of disposing of the dead during a period when local clinical necropsy rates have continued to decline. Funeral preference is unlikely to have been a significant factor in the decline in clinical necropsy rates.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed2002

Pacemaker explosions in crematoria: problems and possible solutions.

The number of artificial cardiac pacemakers is increasing, as is the number of bodies being cremated. Because of the explosive potential of pacemakers when heated, a statutory question on the cremation form asks whether the deceased has a pacemaker and if so whether it has been removed. We sent a questionnaire to all the crematoria in the UK enquiring about the frequency, consequences and prevention of pacemaker explosions. We found that about half of all crematoria in the UK experience pacemaker explosions, that pacemaker explosions may cause structural damage and injury and that most crematoria staff are unaware of the explosive potential of implantable cardiac defibrillators. Crematoria staff rely on the accurate completion of cremation forms, and doctors who sign cremation forms have a legal obligation to provide such information.

Explosions↗
PubMed1992

Dental amalgam--environmental aspects.

Increasing knowledge about the risk of toxic effects caused by anthropogenic mercury accumulation in ecosystems has resulted in a growing pressure for reduction of the discharge of mercury waste. Consequently, the mercury waste problems of dental clinics have been given increased attention, and restrictions on handling and discharge of contaminated waste have been established in several countries. Major amalgam particles from trituration surplus of those produced during the carving and burnishing of new amalgam restorations are generally collected in coarse filters and sold for refinement. Minor amalgam particles released by production of new fillings or by removal of old restorations partly sediment in tubes and drains. The remaining particles are carried with the waste water stream to the local purifying plant. In Scandinavia, the industrial discharge of mercury-contaminated waste water has been reduced to a minimum. According to recent investigations, dental clinics appear to be responsible for the major amount of mercury collected in the sludge generated in purifying plants. If threshold values for heavy metal content, including mercury, are exceeded, the sludge is not allowed to be recycled as fertilizer. Installation of an approved amalgam-separating apparatus in dental clinics is now mandatory in several countries--for example, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark. Approval of amalgam separators is based on national testing programs, including clinical or laboratory tests demanding 95-99% separating efficiency.

Biological Availability↗
PubMed2005

The cemetary associated with Leyme Mental Hospital.

A detailed study of a cemetary attached to a provincial psychiatric hospital underscores its resemblance to military and Anglo-Saxon burial grounds. It is a sad reminder of the isolation and abandonment of many patients in French asylums up to the middle of the twentieth century.

France↗
PubMed2006

Ritual plants of Muslim graveyards in northern Israel.

This article surveys the botanical composition of 40 Muslim graveyards in northern Israel, accompanied by an ethnobotanical study of the folkloristic traditions of the use of these plants in cemeteries. Three groups of plants were found to be repeated systematically and were also recognized for their ritual importance: aromatics herbs (especially Salvia fruticosa and Rosmarinus officinalis), white flowered plants (mainly Narcissus tazetta, Urginea maritima, Iris spp. and Pancratium spp.) and Cupressus sempervirens as the leading cemetery tree. As endemic use we can indicate the essential role of S. fruticosa as the main plant used in all human rites of passage symbolizing the human life cycle. The rosemary is of European origin while the use of basil is of Indian influence. The use of white flowers as cemeteries plants reflects an old European influence and almost the same species are used or their congeners. Most of the trees and shrubs that are planted in Muslim cemeteries in Israel have the same use in ancient as well in modern European cultures. In conclusion, our findings on the occurrence of plants in graveyards reflect the geographic situation of Israel as a crossroads in the cultural arena between Asia and Europe. Most of the traditions are common to the whole Middle East showing high relatedness to the classical world as well as to the present-day Europe.

Anthropology, Cultural↗
PubMed1982

Personifications of death and death anxiety.

University students (n = 165), graduate nursing students (n = 102), and funeral service students (n = 68) completed Templer's Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) and a Death Personification Exercise (DPE). Responses to the DAS and DPE were subjected to principal components factor analysis using varimax rotational procedures and the factor scores derived for each scale were intercorrelated. Prior to this comparison, DPE responses were contrasted using multiple discriminant function analysis. Results showed there was more communality than uniqueness in the factor structures. Interrelations between the nine common DPE and four DAS factors were generally low but did suggest that: (a) perceptions of death as a gay deceiver were related to a cognitive-affective component of death anxiety; while images of death as a gentle comforter or macabre figure were related to an awareness of the passage of time; and (b) reactions to death and descriptions of the activities of death were associated with concern about physical alterations.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Potential contamination of forensic entomology samples collected in the mortuary: a case report.

Carrion insects originating from infested bodies may establish small mortuary populations. Two Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine cases are presented to illustrate how these insects can potentially contaminate forensic entomology samples collected in the mortuary. The first case proves that bodies can be colonised in the mortuary: when a decomposed body in freezer storage was thawed for a procedure in the main mortuary, it was colonised within five minutes of exposure by the beetle Necrobia rufipes De Geer (Cleridae, Coleoptera). The second case illustrates that immobile juvenile insects can be transferred between bodies, and describes the transfer of an Eristalis sp. (Syrphidae, Diptera) pupa from a decomposed to a fresh body. While the contamination risk is slight, it can be further minimised by checking mortuary-collected samples against those taken from the body discovery site, by mortuary pest control, and by checking previous mortuary admittance records for possible contamination sources.

Animals↗