Download a Handout on the EPA Review of Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde is a critical tool for funeral directors and embalmers. It is the primary – and most effective – preservative used in the majority of embalming fluids on the market today.
The goal of embalming is to:
- Sanitize the body of someone who has died
- Make a decedent presentable for viewing by loved ones
- Temporarily preserve the body for viewing
More importantly, it enables families the opportunity to view the body of their loved one and say a final goodbye.
The EPA selected formaldehyde for a risk assessment under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
TSCA requires the EPA to periodically conduct risk assessments to determine whether particular uses of chemicals present an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment.
If the EPA finds that formaldehyde presents an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment, it could result in the agency taking actions, such as:
- Establishing very low exposure standards
- Enacting management restrictions
- Setting standards that funeral directors and embalmers must meet in order to embalm with formaldehyde and issuing violation notices and penalties should they not comply
- Strict exposure controls and exposure limits for remaining permissible industrial or commercial uses, with strict recordkeeping requirements
- Phase out periods for restricted uses ranging from 180 days to 10 years, depending on the product
- Prohibition of consumer uses
- Prohibition of most industrial and commercial uses
Examples of Where Formaldehyde Use is Essential
There is no effective substitute for formaldehyde.
- Veterans – The current wait time for a burial of a U.S. Veteran in Arlington National Cemetery and some other national cemeteries is up to and over six (6) months. It’s critical that the body be preserved until it can be buried.
- Immigrants and others who die away from home – Embalming is required for repatriation of human remains to other states or countries so the deceased can be buried at home by their family.
- Certain religious and ethnic services – In some cases, funeral services may be delayed and preservation needed: to allow time for family and friends to arrive, clergy to arrive, or religious services to take place; by tradition.
- Trauma, autopsy, and anatomical donation – When there is a delay between death and funeral services due to medical investigations, accidents, etc., embalming may be required.
- Restorative art – When there is severe trauma to a body due to an accident, disease, suicide, etc., restoring the decedent’s appearance requires firm, dry tissues and only formaldehyde can provide the best foundations for this procedure. This allows the family to view their loved one last time before burial.
Unfortunately, until now, the funeral profession has been lacking recent, reliable scientific data. Existing studies were mostly conducted prior to the 1980s and do not represent accurate embalming practices today.
To provide current data that characterized the typical preparation room in the 21st Century, the National Funeral Directors Association commissioned the NFDA Formaldehyde Exposure Study.
The results of this study were published in the peer-reviewed scientific Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, lending weight and credibility to our findings, which present a stark contrast to existing scientific data.
We found that the level of exposure to formaldehyde for funeral directors and embalmers during is less than current Occupational Safety and Health Administration permissible eight-hour and short-term exposure limits.
NFDA’s data shows that trained funeral service professionals can effectively manage their exposure to formaldehyde to well-below current occupational limits – information that has been shared with the EPA in both oral and written testimony.
If Congress decides to do oversight hearings on the EPA, NFDA is willing to share more information about the impact of the agency’s activities on small businesses, like funeral homes.
If you have questions or would like more information, contact Lesley Witter, NFDA Senior Vice President, Advocacy, 202-236-4926,
lwitter@nfda.org.
Additional Resources
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