How long embalmed body can last

Your dying immune system can no longer contain the trillions of hungry microbes that normally help digest the food you eat. So they escape.

First, they travel from the lower intestines through your tissues, veins, and arteries. Within hours, they reach your liver and gallbladder, which contain a yellow-green bile meant for breaking down fat when you're alive. But after the microbes are through eating those organs, that bile starts to flood the body, staining it a yellow-green. From about day two to four, the microbes are everywhere.

And they're producing toxic gases, like ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, which will expand and cause your body to not only bloat, but stink. After three or four months, your yellow-green complexion has turned brownish-black because your blood vessels have deteriorated to the point that the iron inside them spills out, becoming brownish-black as it oxidizes.

Also around this time, the molecular structures that hold your cells together break away, so your tissues collapse into a watery mush. And in a little over a year, your cotton clothes disintegrate, as acidic body fluids and toxins break them down. Only the nylon seams and waistband survive. At this point, nothing dramatic happens for a while.

But by a decade in, given enough moisture, the wet, low-oxygen environment sets off a chemical reaction that turns the fat in your thighs and butt to a soap-like substance called grave wax. On the other hand, drier conditions lead to mummification. Centers for Disease Control and Canadian health authorities.

One state, Hawaii, even forbids embalming even if the person died of certain contagious diseases. Many morticians have been taught, however, that embalming protects the public health, and they continue to perpetuate this myth. In fact, embalming chemicals are highly toxic. Embalmers are required by OSHA to wear a respirator and full-body covering while embalming. Embalming does not preserve the human body forever; it merely delays the inevitable and natural consequences of death.

The rate of decomposition will vary, depending on the strength of the chemicals and methods used, and the humidity and temperature of the final resting place.

Ambient temperature has more effect on the decomposition process than the amount of time elapsed since death, whether or not a body has been embalmed. In a sealed casket in above-ground entombment in a warm climate, a body will decompose very rapidly. Many funeral directors believe that seeing the body is a necessary part of the grieving process, even if the death was long-anticipated.

It is the basis for the sale of profitable merchandise, the guardian of public health, the reason for much of our professional education and our protective legislation.

Direct or immediate burial, without embalming, must be offered by all funeral homes. The body is simply placed in a shroud, casket, or other container, and buried within few days, without visitation or service. Refrigeration can be used to maintain a body while awaiting a funeral service or when there is a delay in making arrangements. Not all funeral homes have refrigeration facilities, but most hospitals do. What is embalming? How prevalent is embalming? Skip to content Home Admission Essay How long does it take for an embalmed body to decompose in a coffin?

Admission Essay. Ben Davis April 30, How long does it take for an embalmed body to decompose in a coffin? Does an embalmed body decompose? What happens to your soul when your cremated? Is it legal to build your own coffin?

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