Hello All,
I found a few paragraphs from a year ago back in the archives, it seems
like the most danger would be tainted wells near cemeteries. Since we
don't dig six feet deep while re-setting stones, "breathing arsnic-laced
dust" is in all probability not very likely. One thread also points out
that "it's just conjecture at this point." But it is something that we all
should be aware of while working in cemeteries. Below are three paragraphs
from the archives:
----- Original Message -----
I am the person (Andrea D. MacDonald "Andi" ) who recently mentioned this
online. It was an issue about a year ago and someone sent me a photocopy of
an article. The article relates that arsenic airborne in dirt when digging
in cemeteries is the most hazardous way to "consume" it. I have spoken with
a doctor and with a Government Safety and Health Expert and both have told
me that no studies have been done--that it's just conjecture at this point.
I personally had a concern because arsenic is a heavy metal and about a
year ago I started suffering from numbness of the skin just below the knee
and then the big toe, same leg, started having tingling sensations
(numbness). The doctor said that only one thing he knew of could cause
isolated numbness like that--normally the numbness is in the entire
extremity, not just surface skin in a patch--and that was heavy metal
poisoning. They did a several day urine collection to diagnose any heavy
metal poisoning and ruled out arsenic. I was relieved. But, it is always
with me that arsenic is a danger, as are other chemicals, and we should be
cautious when around them. The Safety and Health Expert took a sample of
the dirt from the cemetery he was involved with for the government and they
found the heavy metals well within the range of safe levels (there is
always a trace of metals of some sort). -------------- Andrea D. MacDonald
"Andi"
----- Original Message -----
Arsenic was used as a major embalming agent, devised during the Civil War
and continued until about 1910. While the remains may decompose, Arsenic
never degrades. In the heavy metals group, Arsenic will "travel" in the
ground. Arsenic tainted wells within a 1/4 mile of historic cemeteries in
the mid-West have been found and documented. The Arsenic stays in the
ground, travels into the ground water and Arsenic kills. You can ingest it
by skin contact, through breathing Arsenic-laced dust and by drinking
Arsenic-tainted water. ]
From the time of the Civil War until about 1910 (at least that year in
California), the morticians used anywhere from 3 ounces to 12 pounds of
arsenic to embalm with. It was the best preservative method devised to keep
the soldiers corpses in condition to be shipped home for burial during the
war. The use continued and now, it seems, at least in the mid-west, wells
near old cemeteries are being found to have been contaminated by the
arsenic. While eventually the human remains did decompose, arsenic is a
heavy metal and does not degrade. It does "move" through the earth with
erosion and does get into ground water. -------------- Sue Silver CA
I would react to this in two ways. First, I would not drink well water
from near a cemetery, and second, If I were working on a cemetery where
severe erosion may have exposed the lower levels of soil I may consider
having the soil tested.
Ernie