And what is the normal volume cremates a day prior to the virus?? Wuhan city is 11 million people
China’s average death rate per year is 8/1000 meaning when city alone has 88,000 deatha per year, which is 241 per day.
Wuhan province has about 58.5 Milllio, meaning there are 468,000 deaths per year in that province, or 1282 deaths per day.
I have no idea what percentage are typically cremated but one would assume that rate probably is higher due to precaution over the virus than in normal days.
But reports of hundreds of cremations a day, doesn’t really sound like it would be out of the ordinary in and of itself. Context matters.
Calcified compounds within cremains can contain metals such as lead, boron, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, tin, lithium, magnesium, manganese, nicket and strontium. Metals such as aresenic and selenium, though present in a live human body, are volatile and decompose quickly upon burning.
Levels of toxic metals in cremains are not regulated although all non-combustible materials must be removed from the corpse. Pacemakers must be removed as they explode and will damage the furnace. Dental metal fragments must be removed. The body is burned within the coffin or a cardboard box.
Any bone fragments left after they cool are ground in a separate process and added to the ash. Fumes produced are computer controlled. The flue gases are vented to the atmosphere through a refractory-lined flue. The gases are at a very high temperature and are cooled.
However, gaseous emissions are by far the greatest source of cremation pollution.
In addition to harmless compounds such as water vapor, emissions include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen chloride gas, hydrogen fluoride, mercury vapour.
Organic compounds such as benzenes, furans, acetone are also emitted and these react with the hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride under combustion conditions to form polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) both of which are carcinogens.
A study by the Cremation Association of North America has found that filtering crematorium fumes has little effect on the toxins released.
However, when compared to yearly toxin release world wide, crematoriums contribute only a very small fraction of harmful compounds or greenhouse gases.
https://www.calgarymemorial.com/effect-of-cremation-on-environment.html
The hundreds a day is only referring to ONE crematorium. There are many more crematoriums in Wuhan.
I agree on the normal death rate of about 240 a day in Wuhan. But - I read another article/twitter/whatever that some crematorium guy said they were doing 4 to 5 times as many cremations in a day than normal. Of course, he might have been posting from Boston in his mom’s basement too.
Although the lockdown of 400+ million people in China supports the idea that MANY more people are sick and dying than the official numbers say.