Embalming Ch. 7

The application of the chemicals is
influenced by:

– the results the embalmer hopes to produce
– variations between chemical makers
(remember a 36 index Dodge is not the same
as a 36 index Royal Bond)
– how the chemicals react with the tissue

Work Practice Controls When
Using Chemicals

• Wear gloves
• Flush chemicals that come in contact with
the skin with cold running water
• Wear eye protection
• Wear protective clothing
• Use a good ventilation system .
• Wear a mask if necessary.
• Use cool water to dilute any spills and
clean them up immediately.
• Do NOT use formaldehyde chemicals as an
antiseptic.
• Keep a MSDS sheet on each chemical.
Rinse all bottles 3 times before throwing
them in the trash.
• Keep the machine tanks covered at all
times as well as the fluid bottles covered.
This will help reduce fumes.
• Don’t let formaldehyde and bleach come in
contact.
• Pour the embalming fluids into a tank of
water to reduce fumes.

Preservative Vascular Fluids

• Index
• Color
• Firming speed
• Degree of firmness
• Moisturizing qualities
• Special-purpose arterial fluids

Stong Index:

range of 26 to 38

Medium Index:

range of 16-25

Weak Index:

5-15

Cases you would use humectants on:

emaciated cases

Cases you would use non-humectants on:

edema cases

Special-purpose arterial fluids

• Jaundice fluids
• High-index fluids- they can be dehydrating
and non-dehydrating.
• Tissue gas fluids
• Fluids for infants and children

Pre-injection Fluids

They are injected before the preservative
arterial solution with the purpose of aiding
in blood removal and preparing the tissues
for the arterial solution.

Co-Injection Fluids

They are added to the preservative
vascular solutions to help increase the
penetrating and distributing qualities of
the vascular fluid and to help modify and
control the reaction of the preservatives.

Internal Bleach and Stain
Removers

They are designed to help bleach blood
discolorations.

Tissue Gas Co-Injection Fluids

They are germicidal in nature and act on
the microbes that form the tissue gas

Edema-Corrective Co-injection
Fluids

• They enhance the dehydrating effect of the
arterial fluids and help dry the edematous
tissues.

Germicide Boosters

• They are used for cases with infectious and
contagious disease in order to increase the
germicidal effects of the arterial fluid.

Water (Conditioning)-
Corrective Fluids

• These are used to help make hard water
soft so the arterial fluid can be more
effective

The primary dilution

the dilution of arterial fluids prepared by the embalmer

Index

amount of formaldehyde
measured in grams dissolved in 100
milliliters of water.

Primary Dilution Formula

C X V= C’ X V’

C - Index of arterial fluid
V - Volume of arterial fluid (oz)
C’ - the strength of the solution %
V’ - total volume of fluid in the tank (oz)

Arterial Fluid Temperature

room temp

Density

relates to the concentration of the
solute in the solution.

Specific Gravity

is the ratio of the weight of
a given volume with the equal weight of
water.

Hypotonic

a solution contains less of a
dissolved substance than is found in the
blood. best embalming results

hypertonic

too much solution used (causes dehydration)