What happens to the ~45 liters of water in the human body once the person dies and is buried in a coffin?
In: Biology
Bodies are drained of fluids as part of the embalming process. Morticians take care of this issue when they’re preparing the body for the funeral.
Now, there is a possibility that the embalming fluids can leak out of the coffin during the decaying process and it makes me wonder how that affects the soil…
On another note, during the plague in England, there were several mass graves. I want to say it was Blackheath, where they say the soil is notoriously fertile from the bodily fluids that seeped into the ground. (I don’t think plague victims were ever embalmed.) Naturally, one would think the biodegradable fluids in a body are better for the earth than a chemical like formaldehyde, even the fluids of a plague victim. I could be wrong about it being Blackheath; someone please correct me if so, because I would like to know if I’m remembering wrong.
The atoms end up inside each and every one of us, [just like William Shakespeare’s. ](http://www.jupiterscientific.org/review/shnecal.html)
I don’t know how graphic of a description you want, but essentially they are ingested and broken down by organisms like bacteria and fungi producing new chemicals as the body decomposes. Eventually they escape the body.
But this is why in most places bodies are embalmed and preserved before burial. This slows the decomposition process and makes it not so… Offputting.
Coffins are generally made of wood, body decays, any fluids leak out. Eventually the coffin decays and the water leaks out and returns to the environment.
In some cultures, they embalm the body, so that prolongs the decaying process, and sometimes the body just dries out and mummifies.
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