Arsenic and Old Graves: Civil War-Era Cemeteries May Be Leaking Toxins The poisonous element, once used in embalming fluids, could be contaminating drinking water as corpses rot.
f you live near a Civil War-era cemetery, rotting corpses may be on the attack. While theres no need to fear the walking dead, homeowners should watch out for toxins leaking out of old graves that could be contaminating drinking water and causing serious health problems.
When someone died at the turn of the century, it was common practice to bring a photographer in to take death photos. Also, the people who fought and died in the Civil War came from all over the United States, and families who wanted to bury their kin would pay to have them shipped home.
At the time, ice was the only option to preserve a body, but that didnt work very welland no one wants to see a deceased relative partially decomposed.
Arsenic kills the bacteria that make corpses stinkyif youve ever smelled bad meat, you can imagine how important it is for embalming fluid to do its thing and do it well. But the poisonous element doesnt degrade, so when embalmed bodies rot in the ground, arsenic gets deposited into the soil.
A Civil War-era cemetery filled with plenty of gravesthings seldom stay where you want them to, says Benjamin Bostick, a geochemist at Columbia University. As the body is becoming soil, the arsenic is being added to the soil. From there, rainwater and flooding can wash arsenic into the water table.
NIKK-I once read a mystery book where people who lived in this particle house would end up dying. The house had well water as others around it but the detective figured out... there were some Civil War soldiers who were in the ground near this house.( ARSENIC).