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Can an embalming break down

Updated: 10/17/2022
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Mo1

Lvl 1
11y ago

Best Answer

I assume you are asking the classic question...does embalming last forever?

Embalming is designed to disinfect, preserve, and restore a remains for 3-5 days. Different procedures and chemical mixes can extend that. However, embalming does not last forever.

Formaldehyde serves to 'fix' proteins in the body. That is what gives a deceased body the hard and leathery feeling. We embalm, show the body, then bury them. Inevitably, there is at least one little bacterium that mkes its way in, either through imperfect embalming (and perfect embalming does not exist) or environment. The fixated tissue is not desireable to many of these batcteria, but something will find something it wants to eat. And thus decomposition is initiated.

Decomposition is a domino effect scenario. Once it starts, it grows exponentially.

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11y ago
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