Flammability and combustion hazard of preserved human tissues

Preservation techniques have evolved over the years to respond to the need of longer dissection periods, with formaldehyde being widely used for this purpose. In recent years, efforts have been focusing on reducing the health hazards of this fixative and the rigidity of the tissues embalmed with it. With every embalming technique that they are either developing or resurrecting from various protocols, institutions need to assess the fire and health hazards of all the chemicals being used. Compliance with the storage and handling safeguards listed in the Material Safety Data Sheet of each chemical, needs to be accompanied by infrastructure changes. To reduce the health hazards of formaldehyde, institutions are taking appropriate countermeasures directed at the source itself, by using substitutes or injecting formaldehyde chelating agents, and are adopting high performance air extraction systems to protect the users. However, little is known about the flammability risk of embalmed human bodies. During a recent visit to McGill University morgue by architects and safety inspectors to expand it, we were asked about the flammability risk of the embalmed specimens, so we carried out a flashpoint test to evaluate the flammability potential of specimens embalmed with each of our three embalming techniques: formaldehyde-based, Thiel, and phenol-based. With the phenol-based embalming showing the most risks, attention should be drawn to all institutions who are experimenting with various embalming techniques to evaluate the flammability potential of their embalmed specimens.