Alkaline hydrolysis (body disposal)
Alkaline hydrolysis is a process for the disposal of human and pet remains using lye and heat. The process is being marketed as an alternative to the traditional options of burial or cremation.
Process
The process is based on alkaline hydrolysis: the body is placed in a pressure vessel that is then filled with a mixture of water and potassium hydroxide, and heated to a temperature around, but at an elevated pressure, which prevents boiling. Instead, the body is effectively broken down into its chemical components, which takes approximately four to six hours. A lower temperature and pressure may be used, but at a longer duration. At the beginning of the process, the mixture is strongly basic, with a pH level of approximately 14; pH drops to 11 by the end, but the final pH level depends on the total operation time and the amount of fat in the body.| Pathogen | Temperature | Pressure | Time |
| Microbal | 3 hours | ||
| TSE | 6–8 hours |
The result is a quantity of green-brown tinted liquid and soft, porous white bone remains easily crushed in the hand to form a white-colored dust. The "ash" can then be returned to the next of kin of the deceased. The liquid is disposed of either through the sanitary sewer system, or through some other method, including use in a garden or green space. To dispose of, approximately of water are used, resulting in of effluent, which carries a dried weight of .
This alkaline hydrolysis process has been championed by a number of ecological campaigning groups, for using 90 kW-hr of electricity, one-quarter the energy of flame-based cremation and producing less carbon dioxide and pollutants. It is being presented as an alternative option at some British crematorium sites., about 1,000 people had chosen this method for the disposition of their remains in the United States. The operating cost of materials, maintenance, and labor associated with the disposal of of remains was estimated at $116.40, excluding the capital investment cost of equipment.
Alkaline hydrolysis has also been adopted by the pet and animal industry. A handful of companies in North America offer the procedure as an alternative to pet cremation. Alkaline hydrolysis is also used in the agricultural industry to sterilize animal carcasses that may pose a health hazard, because the process inactivates viruses, bacteria, and transmissible spongiform encephalopathy.
History
The process was originally developed as a method to process animal carcasses into plant food, patented by Amos Herbert Hobson in 1888. In 2005 Bio-Response Solutions designed, sold, and installed the first single cadaver alkaline hydrolysis system and placed it in Mayo Clinic where it is still used today. In 2007, a Scottish biochemist, Sandy Sullivan, started a company making the machines, and calling the process Resomation.Religious views
In Christian countries and cultures, cremation has historically been discouraged, but now in many denominations it is accepted.The Roman Catholic Church permits ordinary cremation of bodies as long as it is not done in denial of the beliefs in the sacredness of the human body or the resurrection of the dead.
Islam forbids the cremation of any living being as it does not fit in line with the teachings of respect and dignity to be handed to any living being.
When alkaline hydrolysis was proposed in New York state the New York State Catholic Conference condemned the practice, stating that hydrolysis does not show sufficient respect for the teaching of the intrinsic dignity of the human body.
Legal status
United States
Alkaline hydrolysis as a method of final disposition of human remains is currently legal in eighteen states, including Oregon, Missouri, Minnesota, Maryland, Maine, Kansas, Illinois, Florida, Colorado, Georgia, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, California, and Utah. Additional rules are pending in New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The process was legal in New Hampshire for several years but amid opposition by religious lobby groups it was banned in 2008 and a proposal to legalize it was rejected in 2013.Alkaline hydrolysis has been used for cadavers donated for research at the University of Florida since the mid 1990s and at the Mayo Clinic since 2005. UCLA uses the process to dispose of donor bodies.
| State | Policy | Year | Legislation | Notes | Refs. |
| Alabama | 2017 | H-212 | Added definition of alkaline hydrolysis. | ||
| California | 2017 | AB967 | Alkaline hydrolysis has been used at UCLA since 1995 for donated cadavers. Previously, AB 1615 was advanced and passed the Assembly, but died in Senate. | ||
| Colorado | 2011 | HB11-1178 | |||
| Florida | 2010 | SB1152 | In use at the University of Florida since the mid 1990s. | ||
| Georgia | 2012 | HB933 | SB296 pending in House to remove conflicting language. | ||
| Idaho | 2014 | Docket 24-0801-1301 | Adopted in a docket amending the Rules of the State Board of Morticians. | ||
| Illinois | 2012 | SB1830 | Enacted as Public Act 97-0679. | ||
| Kansas | 2010 | HB2310 | Modified K.S.A. 65-1760 to define cremation as "the mechanical and/or other dissolution process that reduces human remains to bone fragments." | ||
| Maine | 2009 | 144 CMR 244 | |||
| Maryland | 2011 | HB995 | Added definition for cremation as "the process of reducing human remains to bone fragments through intense heat and evaporation, including any mechanical or thermal process." | ||
| Minnesota | 2003 | SF1071 | In use at the Mayo Clinic since 2005. | ||
| Missouri | ? | ? | 20 CSR 2120-2.071 does not prohibit alkaline hydrolysis in the definition of cremation. | ||
| Nevada | 2017 | AB205 | |||
| New Hampshire | 2008 | SB332 | Legislation to reinstate alkaline hydrolysis was rejected in 2013. | ||
| North Carolina | 2018 | GS 90-210.136 | |||
| Oregon | 2009 | SB796 | Added "dissolution" to the definition of final disposal. | ||
| Texas | — | — | — | HB1155 died in committee. | |
| Utah | 2018 | HB0121 | |||
| Vermont | 2014 | H.656 | Enacted as Act No. 138 | ||
| Washington | 2020 | SB 5001 | |||
| Wyoming | 2014 | HB25 | Enrolled Act No. 21 adds definition for "chemical disposition." |
Canada
approved the process in 2012, becoming the first province to do so.Quebec and Ontario have also legalized the process.
A funeral home in Granby, Quebec, has become the first in the province to receive an alkaline hydrolysis machine.