Reports have been circulating over the weekend about funeral Director embalmers being at high risk for Cancer. This comes mainly from exposure to Formaldehyde over long periods of time.
Funeral Industry insiders are well aware of the risks and funeral directors are warned of it in Mortuary School.
A summary of the the national Cancer research can be viewed here
LONG TERM EXPSOSURE TO EMBALMING FLUIDS IS LIKELY TO CAUSE CANCER.
Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by your Funeral Guy.
More studies are needed. Here is a snippet from US News and world Report.
Researchers in the Division of Cancer Epidemeology and Genetics at the U.S. National Cancer Institute analyzed data on funeral industry workers who died between 1960 and 1986. Information about the workers’ work practices and exposure to formaldehyde throughout their lifetime was collected through interviews with family members and co-workers.
The researchers found that risk rose along with the number of years someone had been involved with embalming and related formaldehyde exposure. The greatest risk was seen among those who’d been involved in embalming for more than 20 years, according to the study.
Embalming fluids pic from flickr under the creative commons license from
Musebrarian’s photostream
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Tags: blog, embalming, embalming fluid, formaldehyde, funeral, funeral director, funeral industry, national cancer institute, nci, your funeral guy