Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum

Full Version: Are chemicals from dead bodies oozing into tap water? (aquifer threats)
You're currently viewing a stripped down version of our content. View the full version with proper formatting.
https://slate.com/technology/2022/10/cem...odies.html

EXCERPTS: There isn’t a large body of research on what graveyards do to America’s underground water supply. But there’s enough information to pose a rather uneasy question: Is it possible that a little bit of great-grandma is running through the faucet? Signs point to yes—and the situation could get worse.

Roughly half of Americans rely upon underground water sources for their drinking supply. And as above-ground reservoirs and rivers increasingly fall victim to extreme weather conditions—such as those epic floods that knocked out Jackson, Mississippi’s water treatment facilities in August—and intensifying droughts hit broad swaths of the country, we’re expected to become even more reliant on aquifers.

But, you may wonder, isn’t water from aquifers purified before reaching your faucet anyway? Well, states and the federal government set strict water quality standards, but these benchmarks can go unmet until people are already exposed to contaminants. Systems all too often don’t test water properly, or fail to report failed test results...

[...] All the while, these underground sources are under constant threat from a silent, ever-encroaching source: the dead.

There are more than 140,000 known cemeteries in America. [...] Each single burial plot is like a mini pollution nightmare, awash with chemicals, pharmaceuticals, hazardous materials from medical devices, and bacteria. Not to mention, according to the Green Burial Council, the 20 million feet of varnished wood and 1.6 million tons of concrete that are placed into the ground annually as caskets and vaults... (MORE - missing details)