Odour Control Systems for Mortuaries: Creating a Comfortable and Hygienic Environment
The Role and Importance of a Mortuary
A Mortuary is a place where dead bodies are kept before cremation whereas a morgue is a place where dead bodies are kept in the refrigerated body store and examined in a postmortem room.
Odour Control Systems for Mortuaries are essential as these facilities are generally located in a far-off isolated corner of the hospital with provisions for body preservation and autopsy. While considering the support and utility services of a hospital, the role and importance of mortuary services cannot be ignored.
In addition to hospitals, odour control systems for mortuaries form an integral part of many medical colleges, which are also engaged in performing autopsies. Apart from serving several medicolegal purposes, a mortuary also serves the purpose of teaching undergraduate and postgraduate medical students.
The Need for Odour Control Systems in Mortuaries
It is often pointed out by many medical experts that the majority of mortuaries or postmortem buildings across the country need immediate attention with reference to creating a comfortable and hygienic atmosphere so that even the most reluctant mortuary visitor would not mind entering the complex.
The Foul Odour Factor in a Mortuary
In order to preserve the dead body, it is embalmed with formaldehyde which is volatile and has a characteristic pungent, irritating odour. The body is further stored in a refrigerated environment. Although the decomposition of a dead body is slow in the refrigerated environment, it never stops and leads to the accumulation of gases such as thiol, hydrogen sulphide (H₂S), ammonia (NH3), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH₄) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
Airborne molecules of these gases permeate into the entire mortuary complex and are the reason behind the foul odour emanating from an autopsy room and the entire mortuary complex as a whole. This underlines the critical importance of odour control systems for mortuaries.
Health Risks for Mortuary Staff and Visitors
Formaldehyde represents the greatest risk for staff working in mortuaries. Formaldehyde evaporates at room temperature and becomes a gas that can be easily inhaled. Exposure to even a very low amount of formaldehyde gas can cause:
- Headaches
- Eye, nose, throat irritation
- Dermatitis
- Difficulties in breathing
Formaldehyde is classified as a probable human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Health Canada. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), USA, the permissible exposure limit for formaldehyde in the workplace is 0.75 parts per million averaged over an 8-hour work day. The odour threshold for formaldehyde is between 0.1-1.0 ppm. Essentially this means that if you can smell it there is a pretty good chance that air quality does not meet safety standards.
Other gases like thiol and hydrogen sulphide, also can be detected by human olfactory senses in concentrations as low as a few parts per billion. Exposure to even low levels of these gases can also irritate the eyes, and cause sore throat, shortness of breath and fluid accumulation in the lungs.
Bry-Air Odour Control System– The Most Effective Way of Removing Airborne Molecular Contamination
Bry-Air Odour Control System for mortuaries is ideal for removing toxic gases and eliminating odours from the air. It purifies the air inside the mortuary and autopsy room through the process of adsorption and chemisorption, in which air is filtered and cleaned out when gaseous contaminants are neutralised while passing through a chemical filter. The cleaning of contaminated air occurs at the molecular level when a pollutant gas molecule reacts with chemicals present in the filter.
Bry-Air: A Step Ahead, Always
Bry-Air is the only Gas Phase Filtration Company in India having its own R&D and Testing Lab for granular media and chemical filters. Backed by world-class technology and systems, the laboratory is capable of testing the performance of impregnated/non-impregnated loose granular media and impregnated/non-impregnated air cleaning devices such as chemical filters, under one roof. The tests are conducted as per ISO/ASHRAE Standard 145.1 and BSR/ASHRAE Standard 145.2/ISO Standard 11155-2 guidelines. The core objectives of the tests are to assess the performance and efficiency of loose granular sorptive media and chemical filters in any particular application.
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