i Ana Rafaela Ferraz Ferreira Body disposal in Portugal

105 Pages·2016·1.07 MB·English

Ana Rafaela Ferraz Ferreira

Body disposal in Portugal:
Current practices and potential
adoption of alkaline hydrolysis and
natural burial as sustainable alternatives

Dissertação de Candidatura ao grau de Mestre
em Medicina Legal submetida ao Instituto de
Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar da
Universidade do Porto.

Orientador: Prof. Doutor Francisco Queiroz
Categoria: Coordenador Adjunto do Grupo de
Investigação “Heritage, Culture and Tourism”
Afiliação: CEPESE – Centro de Estudos da
População, Economia e Sociedade da
Universidade do Porto

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“We are eternal! But we will not last!”
in Welcome To Night Vale

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My sincerest thank you to my supervisor, Francisco Queiroz, who went above and beyond
to answer my questions (and to ask new ones). This work would have been poorer and
uglier and a lot less composed if you hadn’t been here to help me direct it. Thank you.

My humblest thank you to my mother, father, and sister, for their unending support and
resilience in enduring an entire year of Death-Related Fun Facts (and perhaps a month of
grumpiness as the deadline grew closer and greater and fiercer in the horizon). We’ve pulled
through. Thank you.

My clumsiest thank you to my people (aka friends), for that same aforementioned resilience,
but also for the constant willingness to bear ideological arms and share my anger at the
little things gone wrong. I don’t know what I would have done without the 24/7 online support
group that is our friendship. Thank you.

Last, but not least, my endless thank you to Professor Fernando Pedro Figueiredo and
Professor Maria José Pinto da Costa, for their attention to detail during the incredible
learning moment that was my thesis examination. Thank you.

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ABSTRACT

The aim of this dissertation is to assess the feasibility of implementing alternative body
disposal practices in Portugal, with particular emphasis on natural burial and alkaline
hydrolysis. This assessment will be made from an historical, legal and public health
standpoint. To properly fulfill this aim, it will be necessary to fulfill two intermediate goals—
trace the evolutive process of body disposal practices in Portugal and expose a general
overview of the current body disposal landscape.

In order to explore these matters, primary and secondary data was collected through
contacts with entities such as cemetery and crematory administrations, and through a
review of pertinent literature and legislation, both national and international in scope.

The main conclusion we were able to draw from our historical and legal analysis is that the
adoption of innovative body disposal practices such as alkaline hydrolysis in Portugal is
highly unlikely, in the present moment. Natural burial, on the other hand, being essentially
an adaptation of a practice already in use, benefits from a hazier legal status, which leads
us to believe at least a partial application of its aims must be acceptable in the current
context.

Keywords: body disposal; Portugal; alkaline hydrolysis; natural burial; sustainable death
practices.

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RESUMO

Tem a presente tese como objectivo primário estudar, dos pontos de vista histórico,
jurídico-legal, e de saúde pública, a aplicabilidade em Portugal de processos de body
disposal sustentáveis (hidrólise alcalina e natural burial) já utilizados noutros países. Este
processo terá obrigatoriamente de passar por dois objectivos intermédios: traçar o
processo evolutivo das práticas funerárias em Portugal e expor um quadro geral do
panorama e tendências funerárias actuais.

Para atingir os objectivos a que nos propomos, as metodologias utilizadas foram a análise
bibliográfica, legislativa, e documental, assim como os contactos com entidades
competentes, como administrações cemiteriais e de crematórios.

As principais conclusões obtidas a partir da nossa análise mostram que não é provável, de
momento, que se venham a adoptar práticas inovadoras de body disposal, como a hidrólise
alcalina, em Portugal. Por outro lado, o natural burial, ao ser essencialmente uma
adaptação de uma prática já em utilização, beneficia de um estatuto legal mais vantajoso,
pelo que a aplicação dos seus pressupostos nos parece aceitável no contexto corrente.

Palavras-chave: body disposal; Portugal; hidrólise alcalina; natural burial; práticas
funerárias sustentáveis.

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