Granny Snatching: Remove Your Teeth BEFORE Cremation?

The entire state of Connecticut erupted in a frenzy earlier this month when news outlets reported that as part of his debt reduction and government reorganization efforts Gov. Dannel Malloy was going to stop the licensing and regulating of funeral homes by the state Department of Public Health for an estimated savings of $20 million.

We take our funerals seriously in this state.

Among the people most opposed to the reported changes were members of the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association who believe that deregulation would serve to undercut many advances the association has been working to achieve.

I couldn’t help but take notice of this because in the interest of full disclosure my brother-in-law and his family own a funeral home in the Plantsville section of Southington. Thus when something about the industry hits the news, I have a personal interest, somewhat. No money, it’s just that I really care for my in-laws so what affects them affects me.

I also have had an interest in the regulation of funeral homes outside of my family interests because a few years ago, while writing for an organization that wants to significantly reduce mercury in the environment, I discovered that if a person is cremated and they have silver fillings, the process will release mercury fumes into the air.

Mercury is one of the most toxic substances known to man, affecting the brain and nervous system. It is so toxic, in fact, that public schools are supposed to be evacuated if a single mercury thermometer is accidentally broken. Silver fillings actually contain more mercury than silver, and are one of the largest sources of mercury pollution.

So here I am writing about elder issues, particularly elder abuse, and it occurred to me that it would be kind of the final indignity to have someone digging around in your mouth after you die to see if you have silver fillings. Which led me to wonder whether it would be appropriate for a loved one, counselor, or religious leader to advise the near dead that it might be a good time to have their teeth removed?

The just didn’t seem right either, but still, I think it is in the interests of all Connecticut residents, including the elderly and those living near crematoriums, to see if there is a health issue here.

On July 1, 2004, Public Act 02-90 went into effect in Connecticut, banning the sale of products sold with mercury at levels more than 250 parts per million, with the exception of mercury vapor lighting. Silver fillings contain mercury at a level of about 500,000 ppm.

State and federal regulators have been tightening the screws on mercury use and handling for decades partly because the federal Environmental Protection Agency reported a few years back that one in six children born in the United States could be at risk of developmental disorders because of mercury exposure in the mother’s womb.

Now, I have it straight from my family that they do NOT in fact go into the deceased’s mouth when they are preparing the body. They do, however, have to remove pacemakers prior to cremation, because there is some danger of an unwanted reaction – probably from the batteries – when excessive heat is applied.

But that doesn’t resolve the mercury issue.

So I contacted the Department of Health to see if we do anything about mercury vapors emanating from dental fillings during cremation, but as of yet I haven’t received an answer.

Great Britain addressed the issue a few years ago by requiring crematoriums to install special filters that would trap the mercury vapors. British news outlets reported at the time that the new regulation would add about $70 to the cost of each cremation.

Meanwhile, the good news in Connecticut is that at the end of the week following the announcement that the health department wasn’t going to regulate funeral homes, another release was issued saying the first one was inaccurate – although the first one was contained considerable detail on the issue

So, we still have a state department watching over Connecticut’s funeral homes to make sure that when we take our last gasp our remains will be handled appropriately and in accordance with the law.

It seems that parts of the original release from the Health Department are still in effect, however, including the part that says the state won’t oversee college infirmaries any longer.

I guess if I was writing a column on youth issues I’d do a warning on kissing disease, but someone else will have to take on that one.