Saturday, July 23, 2016

Cemetery Series: Death and the Environment

Cortland Rural Cemetery. Photo credit to PBM.
I often think about the effect of my lifestyle and actions have on the environment, but one thing I do not often think about is my death and how it will impact the earth. Death is a natural process, and the earth easily takes it in stride, however, the way we humans take care of and dispose of cadavers can have a positive or negative impact on the earth.

The two most popular ways to dispose of human remains in the modern United States are traditional burial and cremation. Neither option is environmentally friendly. To understand why, let’s examine the processes involved in traditional burial and cremation.
Traditional Burial
If traditional burial, complete with an open casket funeral, is chosen, the deceased is first drained of all blood and pumped full of embalming fluid, which is mainly made of formaldehyde, to preserve the body for as long as possible. The cadaver is then made presentable for the funeral and placed in a casket made of varnished wood, metal, or plastic. Once the funeral is over, the body is laid to rest in a concrete vault in a nearby cemetery.
The procedure of traditional burial is largely centered on using chemicals to keep the body from decomposing for as long as possible. These chemicals, and products from the plastic used to make or coat coffins, leech into the soil where they can be absorbed by nearby plants and animals. The chemicals enter the groundwater, posing a threat to people who rely on well water for drinking. Over 750,000 gallons of formaldehyde enter the soil every year from embalmed corpses in the United States alone.

Formaldehyde does eventually decay, but it is not healthy to have 750,000 gallons of a known carcinogen released into the environment. Frequent exposure to formaldehyde during the embalming procedure puts funeral home employees at a higher risk of getting cancer. The effects of other chemicals in the coffins and burial vaults on the environment are largely unknown.
Cortland Rural Cemetery. Photo credit to PBM.

The idea of slowing down decomposition and preserving the body in an illusion of life promoted by traditional burial would make sense if the cadaver was being kept as a scientific specimen to be used for research. However, there is little point in preserving a body that will be left to rest permanently underground. Besides, without constant care it is impossible to stave off decomposition forever, even the most embalmed corpse will begin to decay after a while.

Slowing down decomposition is neither healthy nor safe. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends disposing of cadavers in a way that will allow them to break down as quickly as possible, to reduce the risk of pathogens colonizing the corpse and leaking into the soil and groundwater.

Traditional coffins and vaults waste valuable resources like wood, concrete, and steel which could be put to more effective use. In the United States, 30 million board feet of wood, 1.6 million tons of concrete, and 90,000 tons of steel are used in traditional burials, never to be seen again.

Traditional burial is rarely required by law, expensive, wasteful, and pollutes the earth. I hope that as more options for body disposal become available traditional burial will become a thing of the past.
Cortland Rural Cemetery. Photo credit to PBM.

Cremation
Cremation is widely viewed as a “green” alternative to traditional burial, but is it actually earth-friendly? Not really.

Cremating a corpse correctly takes about one hour of intense heat, 1590-1797 degrees Fahrenheit (950 degrees Celsius). Maintaining this heat level takes a large amount of energy, often obtained from fossil fuels. During the combustion process, pollutants like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, soot, and trace metals such as highly toxic mercury from dental fillings are released into the atmosphere. Each body burned uses 28 gallons of fossil fuels, finite resources, and releases 540 pounds of carbon dioxide. This adds up, considering 912,000 cadavers are cremated each year in the United States. The ashes left after cremation are not harmful to the environment, but since they are devoid of any nutrients, they cannot be used to nourish future life.

There are ways to reduce the environmental impact of cremation, such as choosing crematoria with scrubbers or filters which help prevent pollutants from entering the atmosphere, wrapping the body in a natural shroud to make sure no excess chemicals are released as the shroud burns, removing dental fillings and medical implants before cremation to prevent release of trace chemicals, and using a biodegradable urn if the ashes will be buried. Some crematoria donate to the carbon fund, an organization which works to reduce pollution and conserve nature, but are there ways to avoid producing pollution in the first place? Fortunately—yes.
Cortland Rural Cemetery. Photo credit to PBM.
Green Burial
Green burial is less of a new earth-friendly fad and more of a return to burial practices before embalming and concrete vaults existed. During green burial, the body is simply buried in a biodegradable coffin or shroud without any invasive chemicals. After being laid to rest, the corpse naturally decomposes and nourishes the earth. Some traditional cemeteries have a section dedicated to green burial, but there are other burial grounds which only accept chemical free bodies and shrouds/coffins. A few green cemeteries allow headstones that lay flat to the ground, while other cemeteries serve as nature preserves and no grave markers are allowed at all. In those places, graves can be found by GPS.  Some states allow people to conduct funerals in their own homes and conduct green burials on their own property, but the laws on this practice vary considerably by locality.

Green burial is cheaper than traditional burial because no expensive supplies or chemicals are used. One downfall of green burial is that it requires lots of open space, which is generally not available to city dwellers.

Composting Cadavers
Someday city inhabitants may have their own form of green burial consisting of specialized buildings for composting cadavers. The fertile soil produced by these facilities could later be used as a fertilizer for flower gardens. Similar to green burial, body composting will not release greenhouse gases or chemicals. Currently, composting corpses is not available to humans, though farmers commonly compost their deceased livestock.
Promession and Alkaline Hydrolysis
Promession and alkaline hydrolysis are two methods of body disposal that are advertised as being good for the environment, though an in-depth analysis of their effects on the earth has yet to be conducted.

Promession is similar in concept to green burial or urban composting, except the body is reduced to small organic fragments by a treatment with liquid nitrogen before being buried. Like the body composting, promession is not yet available to customers.
Cortland Rural Cemetery. Photo credit to PBM.

Alkaline hydrolysis, however is available in a few facilities in the United States. Alkaline hydrolysis, also called green cremation, is a process where the body is reduced to a sterile fluid and some bone fragments, using an alkaline solution of water and potassium hydroxide. Instead of slowing down the decomposition process as embalming does, alkaline hydrolysis speeds it up. Alkaline hydrolysis uses one-eighth of the amount of energy that cremation does and it does not release trace metals or greenhouse gases into the environment. The leftover bone fragments can be buried or scattered, similar to the ashes left over after cremation.

Donate to Science
Donating one’s body to science may not be environmentally friendly in the same way green burial or body composting is, but cadaver donations help researchers in a variety of ways from teaching anatomy to students, studying how bodies decompose, to research projects like testing safe seatbelts and airbags for new car models.

Filling out an application before death and going to a medical evaluation session are necessary steps for those who wish to donate their bodies. Body donation is by far the cheapest option of body disposal, in fact it is completely free. Once a cadaver is successfully donated, the family of the deceased has no control over what research project their loved one will participate in. The family will later receive ashes of the deceased and a letter naming the project their loved one was involved in.

Body donation is not for everyone, but the donated corpses provide vital resources for scientists. It is difficult to judge the environmental impact of body donation because the corpses are used in a wide variety of ways. However the cadavers are being used to
expand our knowledge, which is valuable to our society.

Burial at Sea
Full-body burial at sea is a lesser-known option that helps the environment by saving land for other uses. If the body is wrapped in biodegradable material, as required by most providers of sea burial, then the body can decompose naturally, with little environmental impact.

Cremated remains can also be put to good use underwater by becoming building materials for reef reconstruction technology.
Cortland Rural Cemetery. Photo credit to PBM.

These are just a few of the popular and earth-friendly options for body disposal. There are many other more eccentric options such as cryonics, mummification, shooting one’s ashes into space, or transforming the carbon in one’s body into a diamond. Though interesting, these options do not benefit the earth and are highly expensive.

For more on cemeteries and the environment keep an eye out for my next blog post in the Cemetery Series: The Cemetery Habitat.

Note: Flowers
Cut flowers, popular at funerals, are often grown in overseas in countries with poorly enforced environmental policies or no environmental policies at all. A whole slew of chemicals are used to grow these flowers, including DDT, which is illegal in the United States. These chemicals harm workers in the flower industry and the wildlife around the greenhouse where they are grown. Employees in these greenhouses are not only exposed to dangerous chemicals, but start working at a young age for long hours and have very few rights. The transportation required to ship these flowers across the world uses resources like fuel and releases greenhouse gases. It is possible to still have nice flowers and avoid contributing to the environmental harm by buying organic or fair trade flowers.


Saturday, July 9, 2016

Cemetery Series: Cemetery Geology

Cortland Rural Cemetery. Photo credit to PBM.
Cemeteries serve as memorials to our loved one’s lives and stories, but the stories of those who have passed on aren’t the only ones that can be found in a graveyard. Tales of geology, environmental health, and wildlife are also hidden there. Today I’m going to share some of the geological stories of headstones.
Kings Chapel Burying Ground. Photo by author.

Author's image.
Here are a few popular stones used in cemeteries over the centuries.

Granite


Granite. A creative commons image.
Granite is a durable igneous rock that makes for a long lasting tombstone. People began to use granite for cemetery monuments in the 1860s and it remains a popular stone for memorials to this day. Granite is formed from magma which cooled about ten miles below the earth’s surface. Whenever granite shows up at the surface of the earth that means the ten miles of earth covering it have eroded away over time leaving the granite visible. North Carolina is home to the world’s largest open-faced granite quarry. All stone there is mined directly from the surface. Granite comes in a variety of consistencies and colors determined by the composition of the minerals in the rock. Quartz, mica, and various feldspars make up most of granite and give it a characteristic speckled look. Sometimes granite contains xenoliths, sections of foreign rocks which did not melt and integrate into granite smoothly, but remained their own species of rock.

Granite holds up well under weathering, though the mica in it may degrade leaving it pitted. Stains from soot can darken granite, and lichens, moss, and ivy growing on the stone can change its appearance as well.

Quincy Granite Scandal


In the 19th century a dark variety of granite found near Boston known as Quincy granite was all the rage. Quincy granite got its dark color from some of its feldspars which were degrading into clay in a process called kaolinization. Quincy granite was used in many buildings and monuments until people found out that much of the stone being sold wasn’t actually Quincy granite at all, but a lighter granite rubbed with carbon and oil to make it darker. This dye eventually faded, leaving the stones splotchy and the customers disgruntled. After this scam no one wanted anything to do with Quincy granite.

Sandstone

Prepared sandstone sample. A public domain image.
While granite (non-dyed) holds up well under weathering, sandstone is probably the least durable rock used in cemeteries. Whole layers easily flake off as wind and rain wear down the stone. Monuments and headstones made from sandstone were popular from 1650-1890.
Monument at Cortland Rural Cemetery. Photo credit to PBM.

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock formed from sandy broken up pieces of other rocks deposited at the bottom of a river or sea. When these deposits were subjected to intense pressure, they condensed into a new rock, sandstone. The color of sandstone differs widely across sandstone species depending on where they formed and how they weathered. Sandstone is often striped with different colored sediment. In addition to miscellaneous rock pieces, sandstone often contains quartz and feldspar, and is held together by silica, calcite, or iron oxides.

Limestone

Limestone quarry. A creative commons image.
Limestone is similar to sandstone, but it holds up to weathering better and it is formed from calcite and silicate sediment, not sand. Impurities in the sediment will create darker limestone, but lighter varieties with fewer impurities are the most prized. The calcite and silicate either directly precipitate from the seawater or are obtained from the abandoned shells of sea creatures lying on the ocean floor. Some limestone contains fossils of these organisms. Limestone commonly forms in tropical or subtropical seas where calcite and silicate are abundant.
Monument at Cortland Rural Cemetery. Photo credit to PBM.

Most calcite and silicate sediments are compressed into limestone in the same way sand is compressed into sandstone. Some limestones even contain visible sedimentary layers like sandstone does. However, oolitic limestone, also used for headstones, forms in a different way and doesn’t contain these layers. Small grains of sand roll about the sea floor collecting calcite, which acts as a matrix to bind these grains together, and voilĂ , oolitic limestone is formed.

Ooids in a thin-section. A public domain image. 

Headstones made of limestone were most popular from 1780-1930, but limestone was used much earlier to make the first sarcophagi. Sarcophagus literally means “flesh eat,” a rather disturbing name which stems from the unusual limestone used to make sarcophagi which ate away at human flesh.


Sarcophagus of Pharaoh Merenptah. A creative commons image.

Marble

 Marble. A creative commons image.
After limestone is metamorphosized at high temperatures and pressures it becomes marble. The purest marble is perfectly white and has a sugary texture. Marble is highly sought after for its elegant beauty. Marble may be beautiful, but over time its glory fades as carbonization brought on by rainfall causes its surface to recede, rendering headstone inscriptions illegible. In an effort to combat the lost lettering, lead letters were attached with pins to marble monuments, but eventually surface recession caused these letters to fall out. Marble is also easily stained with lichens or soot.

Author's own image.
Marble was in vogue from 1780-1930. The world’s most prized marble has no impurities and comes from Carrara, Italy. Michelangelo used Carrara marble to carve his famous statue of David, and Leonardo Da Vinci helped a quarrying machine for this site. Today, the supply of Carrara marble is running low. Oddly enough, the world’s cheapest marble, Italian grey marble, also hails from Carrara.
Monument from Cortland Rural Cemetery. Photo credit to PBM.

The United States contains several marble sources on the east coast, the most popular sites are Barre, Vermont and Knoxville, Tennessee. The land which now forms Vermont and Tennessee was once the bottom of a tropical sea, which provided the right conditions for limestone formation. This limestone then metamorphosized into marble. 
Monument from Cortland Rural Cemetery. Photo credit to PBM.

Slate

Slate. A public domain image.
Slate, like marble, is sedimentary rock that was metamorphosized to become a new variety of stone. Unlike marble, slate is formed from sedimentary rock made of mud and possibly volcanic ash, not limestone. Slate tends to be dark grey or tinted deep purple or green from the volcanic ash. It is layered in thin sheets that peel apart easily. Gravestones made of slate are often coated with a protective material to prevent water from getting between the layers and pushing them apart. Once the coating is on, slate weathers well given its hard nature. Being hard isn’t always good for a gravestone, however, as it is highly difficult to carve inscriptions into slate. Still, professional gravestone carvers in the later 1600s and early 1700s made impressive carvings on slate of death imagery such as skulls, hourglasses and cherubs. Carved slate gravestones in New England are a crucial relics of Puritan art.
Carved slate gravestone from King's Chapel Burying Ground. Photo by author.


Carved slate gravestone from King's Chapel Burying Ground. Photo by author.
Judge Hathorne's grave. Salem, MA. Photo by author.

Modern Additions

Larvikite and Gabbro are the most common stones used to make grave markers.

Larvikite. A public domain image.

Larvikite is a coarse grained igneous rock with an abundance of feldspars, which give it an iridescent shine. Most larvikite is mined in Scandinavia. It is still unclear how larvikite will weather since most gravestones made of it haven’t been up very long.



Gabbro. A public domain image.

Gabbro is also an igneous rock that appears dark grey, but turns black with polish. Molten black and white feldspars form this rock, which weathers easily when exposed to water. Gabbro is often mistaken for, and even sold as, black granite. One beautiful variety of Gabbro, black galaxy, is flecked with bronzite which gives the stone the aura of a starry sky at night.

Gravestones and monuments help us to honor our loved ones and give cemeteries their characteristic beauty. But how do these stones and what’s underneath them impact the world around them? Stay tuned for the next installment of the Cemetery Series: Death and the Environment.
Monument at Cortland Rural Cemetery. Photo credit to PBM.

Note:
In this post I used the terms gravestone, headstone, grave marker and tombstone interchangeably. By common usage, all refer to some type of burial marker. However, gravestones, headstones, grave markers, and tombstones actually are specific terms which refer to different styles of burial markers. Here is a link to a page which explains the exact definition of these terms for those who are interested. 

Sources.

Friday, July 1, 2016

Zika

The mosquito-transmitted virus Zika has been getting world-wide attention since the World Health Organization’s (WHO) announcement in February that it is a national health concern. More recently, the Zika case in New Jersey is prompting discussion about this disease in the United States. What effects does Zika have on humans? What does this mean to people around the world? What can we do to stop Zika?

An enlarged model from the American Museum of Natural History(AMNH) of Aedes aegypti,the mosquito which transmits Zika.  
Photo was taken on June 30, 2016 by author at AMNH's SciCafe event.

An average individual with no immuno-compromising disorders contracted Zika, nothing much would happen. Maybe the individual would get a headache, conjunctivitis, joint pain, or a mild fever, irritating, but not bad enough to report or go to the hospital. Most people (80%) with Zika don’t even know they have it, and completely recover after the virus leaves the body a few months later. There may be a slight connection between Guillain-BarrĂ© syndrome, which can cause severe paralysis, and Zika, but the connection is unproven and does not render Zika a national concern. Why then are people, WHO included, so worried about Zika?

Zika may go virtually unnoticed in adults, but if a fetus contacts Zika from the mother during gestation, it can develop severe birth defects such as microcephaly, increased calcification in the brain, and other motor and behavioral complications. Zika can cause birth defects no matter what trimester of pregnancy it is contracted in.
If Zika continues to spread, it could severely damage human populations. Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, John Snow Professor and Director of the Center of Infection and Immunity at Columbia University, stated at the American Museum of Natural History’s Zika SciCafe on June 30, 2016 that if there is any way to wreak havoc on a species, it is to prevent it from reproducing properly, and that’s what Zika is doing to us.

AMNH SciCafe.  Panelists at the cafe were:
 Dr. W. Ian Lipkin; Catherine Spong, MD; and Jay K. Varma MD.
Event moderator was Dr. Susan Perkins.
Photo taken at the event by author
Now, this virus with barely any noticeable symptoms sounds quite alarming, but thankfully, Zika has not yet overtaken the whole world. The virus remains restricted to southern climates such as those in South America or Africa. International travel can result in cases far from the south, however, and there have been 233 cases were reported in New York City as of July 1, 2016. Healthcare providers everywhere must be prepared to treat and prevent Zika infections. One concern about Zika being carried back to countries like the United States by travelers is that a northern relative of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito which carries Zika, will bite someone with Zika, and then continue to spread the virus to more and more people, eventually interfering with their ability to reproduce.

Where Did Zika Come From?

 Most people, myself included, only heard of Zika recently, but it has likely been around for a long time, and probably passed unnoticed until due to its generally mild symptoms. The first known case occurred in Zika forest in Uganda in the 1940s and generated little attention. In 2007, there was an outbreak on Yap Island, Micronesia which effected a high percentage of the population putting Zika on the international radar.

How Does Zika Spread?

 The main form of Zika transmission is through mosquito bites. The infection process begins when a mosquito ingests Zika-infested blood. The virus then enters the mosquito’s system, including its saliva, which transfers the virus into the next human it bites. Not all mosquitos are good transmitters of Zika. Aedes aegypti is the species of southern, aggressive, day-biting mosquito that can breed in very small amounts of stagnant water and spreads Zika. (We don’t have that species here in New York City.)

Zika can also be transmitted sexually and through blood contact. Zika remains in an infected woman’s body for about two months, and in an infected man’s semen for even longer. To prevent spreading Zika this way and causing birth defects in unborn children, couples traveling to Zika heavy-zones should be tested for Zika and avoid unprotected sex for six months, when they will both be free of the virus.

The blood contact method of transmission means Zika could be spread through blood transfusions or organ donations.

Testing for Zika

Zika is a virus, meaning it is a small packet of genetic information surrounded by proteins that can only reproduce inside of a cell. Viruses attach themselves to their host cell, penetrate the cell, unleash their genetic material, replicate it to produce new viruses, and kill the host cell.

Informational flyer from the NYC Department of Health about Zika.
Photo taken by author.
There are several ways to test for a viral infection like Zika. The preferred method is to run a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to determine if there is genetic evidence of the virus in the individual. The second method is to test for presence of the virus’s antibodies. The genetic test is highly accurate at determining if Zika is present, but the antibody test is much less accurate and can test positive even if another virus, not Zika, is present. The antibody test is only used because a viral infection consists of two stages: one where viral genetic information is present in the individual and one where viral antibodies are present, but not the genetic information. Between these stages is a window of time where neither genetic information nor antibodies are present. This means both viral tests are good at determining if a virus is present, but not as good at determining if it is absent. If the test comes out negative, there is still a chance that the individual could have Zika. Catherine Spong MD, Acting Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health and speaker at the American Museum of Natural History’s Zika SciCafe, suggests careful monitoring of pregnant women who have Zika, and those who may have contracted Zika throughout their term for the health of the baby.

Zika SciCafe at AMNH. Photo taken by author at the event.

Prevention

 Vaccines for Zika are still being developed and tested. Even once vaccines are on the market they won’t completely eradicate the disease. There are multiple forms of Zika, and while the vaccine may successfully prevent one form, it may actually amplify the effects of a different strain. Being infected to other viral infections similar to Zika, like Dengue, can also amplify the symptoms of Zika.

Cullman Hall of the Universe at AMNH where the Zika SciCafe was held.
Photo taken by author at the event.
Another way to prevent Zika is avoid getting bitten by mosquitos. On a personal level this means wearing bug spray, long sleeved shirts and pants, putting up bug screens, and removing standing water. On a governmental scale, as Jay K. Varma MD, Deputy Commissioner for Disease Control at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, explained at the American Museum of Natural History’s Zika SciCafe, this means activating new mosquito control programs that include putting chemicals in standing water which kill mosquito larva, spraying to kill adults, and informing the public of how to stay safe.

Here are some websites with more information on Zika: