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Article

6 Oct 2006

Author:
Marc Jacoby, Wall Street Journal

European Union Is An Unwelcome Guest At the Irish Wake - Regulators Consider Banning Toxic Embalming Fluids

Because [embalming] fluid contains formaldehyde, which is poisonous, European Union regulators are considering banning the chemical as a potential threat to human health and the environment. Among the worries, environmentalists say: decaying bodies leaching toxic chemicals into the ground. But a ban would be unlucky for the Irish, undertakers here say -- not to mention for the Dodge Company,...[which] stands to lose as much as $3 million in annual sales... The...company and its allies in the Irish funeral industry are lobbying the EU for a "cultural heritage" exemption to any EU ban. Their argument: The storied Irish wake is threatened by overzealous regulation. "The expectation in the Irish public is that they will be able to see and view the deceased," says Gus Nichols of Nichols Funeral Directors here... That's blarney, say advocates of a growing movement to promote more-natural, ecologically sensitive "green burials." The real threat is not to the Irish wake but to the profits of the funeral industry, they say... [Josh Moonman, an embalmer for Ireland's Fanagan Group of mortuaries,] says his work is safe... The Brussels-bashing exasperates EU officials, who say they're just trying to force industries generally to switch to less-toxic chemicals when possible. [also refers to Kirwans Funeral Home]