Cremating bodies with PPE kits may lead to eco-disaster

BENGALURU: Mass open cremation of Covid- 19 victims, wrapped in Personal Protection kits (PPEs), may possibly lead to a longterm health and environment disaster, according to a senior environment officer. “Cremation of the bodies of Covid-19 victims, wrapped in PPEs may lead to emission of dioxin and furan gases.

They are environmental pollutants and belong to the so-called “dirty dozen” - a group of dangerous chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Dioxin and furan are heavy gases and are carcinogenic in nature. They do not get disintegrated and are present in the atmosphere at breathing level,” the officer, who didn’t wish to be named, pointed out.

He suggested that PPE kits should either be removed from the bodies before they are cremated, or the bodies wrapped in non-chlorinated kits, to prevent emission of toxic gases. “The PPE kits should ideally be disposed of at a designated place at the grounds for scientific incineration along with the bio-medical waste, but this is an unprecedented situation. Who could have imagined a human tragedy of this scale?” he said.

Long queues at crematoria becoming super spreaders

Explaining the difference between open and closed cremation, the officer said that in a crematorium, bodies are “incinerated at 600 degrees Centigrade in a closed chamber. In open cremation, bodies are burnt, and not incinerated. It is the burning of PPE kits along with the bodies that will lead to long-term health disaster”, the officer explained.

The Karnataka Government this week identified four acres of land in Kurubarahalli in Tavarekere on the outskirts of Bengaluru for cremation of Covid-19 victims to ease the mounting burden on the crematoria in the city. The long winding queues at the crematoria were turning to be super spreaders of the highly transmissible second wave of the mutant virus, which compelled the government to allocate land just outside the city at a short time.

According to sources, the situation is such that there was no time to conduct an environmental assessment impact of open mass cremations of this scale. It became functional on April 25 with daily mass cremations.

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