In the process of decomposition of a human body, 0.4-0.6 litres of leachate is produced per 1 kg of body weight. The leachate contains pathogenic bacteria and viruses that may contaminate the groundwater and cause disease when it is used for drinking. So far, this topic has been investigated in several regions of the world (mainly Brazil, Australia, the Republic of South Africa, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Poland). However, recently more and more attention has been focused on this issue. This study reviews the results of investigations related to the impact of cemeteries on groundwater bacteriology and virology. This topic was mainly discussed in the context of the quantities and qualities of changes in types of microorganisms causing groundwater contamination. In some cases, these changes were related to the environmental setting of a place, where a cemetery was located. The review is completed by a list of recommendations. Their implementation aims to protect the local environment, employees of funeral homes and the residents living in the vicinity of cemeteries. In this form, this review aims to familiarize the reader with the results of this topic, and provide practical guidance for decision-makers in the context of expansion and management of cemeteries, as well as the location of new ones.
This study evaluates the reasons for the different content of eight selected elements, Cu, Pb, Zn, S, K, Na, Ca and P, in the upper sections of soil profiles covering mass graves in southeastern Poland. The burial sites include 18 mass graves from World Wars I and II, an active parish cemetery, an old kirkut (Jewish cemetery) and, as a comparative site, a forest nursery. Chemical analyses were carried out using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Among the elements were P and Ca, which dominate in the soils covering the burial sites from World War II. Higher amounts of the elements analysed were found at sites where many people were buried in a small area. The burial sites dug in pure sand revealed a lower content of the elements analysed, particularly Ca and P. In places where human ashes were scattered, Ca and P prevailed. The comparative site, a wet forest margin, is characterized by low levels of S and relatively higher amounts of Ca and P. In the soils covering World War I graves P, in particular, prevails over Zn, Pb and Cu. Differences in the concentrations of the elements studied depend on the type and age of the burial site, the type of soil, the slope gradient and water content prevailing at the site and the proximity to mass graves and cemeteries found close to each other.
The investigations were carried out to identify processes and mineral products in the diversified subsoil sediments of mass graves from WW1 (four graves) and 2 (five graves) and their surroundings, as well as the relations between the development of sediments within the mass graves and the scale of migration of the products of corpse decomposition. The author studied the role of iron compounds and clay minerals in the decomposition of human corpses buried in mass graves, followed by the migration of selected elements. In particular, he concentrated on the list of elements found in the diversified sediments of nine mass graves from SE Poland and to their relationship with phosphorus compounds. The methods applied included scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical polarizing microscopy. Samples were collected from various depths in trenches and holes dug in the vicinity of the graves, the sediments from the burial horizon and, when possible, the sediments underlying the grave (studied downslope). Detected phosphorus occurs as a weakly crystalline compound in silt-rich sediments with relatively stable water conditions. In silt-rich sediments with relatively stable moisture content, phosphorus occurs as a weakly crystalline compound. More stable aggregates of decomposition products have been found on quartz grains covered with clay-ferruginous rims. Fragments of human soft tissue were found only in those graves from WW2. There is no link between the spectrum of elements in the sediments of the graves and the period of burials. The decomposition products that form depend primarily on the type of sediments in which the mass graves were dug and, secondarily, although related, on the moisture content of the sediments. It has been found that stabilization of decomposition products in situ is related to the presence of iron compounds and clay minerals, particularly in finergrained, aleuritic-pelitic sediments.
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