1. CHAPTER 7 USE OF EMBALMING CHEMICALS

2. DILUTIONS  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

3. WORK PRACTICE CONTROLS WHEN USING CHEMICALS  Wear gloves  Flush chemicals that come in contact with the skin with cold running water  Wear eye protection (eye glasses don’t count- however when wearing eye glasses if you put goggles over them they cloud over.)  Wear protective clothing

4. WORK PRACTICE CONTROLS WHEN USING CHEMICALS  Use a good ventilation system and 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.

5. WORK PRACTICE CONTROLS WHEN USING CHEMICALS  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 fluids into a tank of water to reduce fumes.

6. PRESERVATIVE VASCULAR FLUIDS  Index  Color  Firming speed  Degree of firmness  Moisturizing qualities  Special-purpose arterial fluids

7. INDEX  Strong: HCHO index in the range of 28 to 36.  Medium: HCHO index in the range of 19 to 27.  Weak: HCHO index in the range of 10 to 18.

8. COLOR  Noncosmetic: fluids that have no active dye and don’t color the tissues.  Cosmetic: fluids that contain active dyes that color the tissue.

9. FIRMING SPEED  Fast-acting: fluid buffered to firm the tissues rapidly.  Slow-firming: fluids buffered to firm body tissue slowly.

10. DEGREE OF FIRMNESS  The degree of firmness depends on the buffers and chemicals contained in a fluid. The degrees of firmness are: soft mild hard

11. MOISTURIZING QUALITIES  Humectants- some fluids have large amounts of chemicals that add and retain tissue moisture. You would use a humectant on an emaciated case.  Nonhumectants- fluids that don’t retain tissue moisture. ~You would use a nonhumectant on a case with edema.

12. SPECIAL-PURPOSE ARTERIAL FLUIDS  Jaundice fluids  High-index fluids- they can be dehydrating and non-dehydrating.  Tissue gas fluids  Fluids for infants and children

13. SUPPLEMENTAL FLUIDS Fluids that aid in the function of preservative fluids

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. INTERNAL BLEACH AND STAIN REMOVERS  They are designed to help bleach blood discolorations. Sometimes these fluids can do more harm than good. Be very careful when using them. Always have a trained technician close by until you are comfortable with them.

17. TISSUE GAS CO-INJECTION FLUIDS  They are germicidal in nature and act on the microbes that form the tissue gas.

18. EDEMA-CORRECTIVE CO- INJECTION FLUIDS  They enhance the dehydrating effect of the arterial fluids and help dry the edematous tissues.

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

20. HUMECTANTS  They help prevent dehydration and maintain tissue moisture.

21. WATER (CONDITIONING)- CORRECTIVE FLUIDS  These are used to help make hard water soft so the arterial fluid can be more effective.

22. DYES  Active dyes are added to bring color to the tissue. Be careful with active dye. Some fluid companies make very strong dyes and you only need a drop or two, other companies you need several ounces. If you’re not familiar with the chemical company make sure you ask someone how much to use.

23. ARTERIAL FLUID DILUTION  Index is the amount of formaldehyde measured in grams dissolved in 100 milliliters of water.  The primary dilution is the dilution of arterial fluids prepared by the embalmer.  The strength of the primary dilution is found by using an index factor.

24. PRIMARY FORMULA

26. FORMULA  C X V= C’ X V’ plug in the numbers and get  25 X x= 2.% X 128  25x = 256  x = 256/25  x= 10.2 ounces

27. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?  It means- we need to use 10.2 ounces of a 25 index arterial fluid per 1 gallon (128 oz) of water in order to embalm the body with a 2% solution.  A 1.5% to 2% solution is considered the industry standard for properly embalming and disinfecting a body.

28. ARTERIAL FLUID TEMPERATURE  The majority of fluids you will be using are used at room temperature.

29. DENSITY/SPECIFIC GRAVITY  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.

30. DENSITY/SPECIFIC GRAVITY  Hypertonic- a greater quantity of a dissolved substance than is found in the blood.  The best embalming results come from a hypotonic solution.  If too much solution is used it is hypertonic and can cause dehyrdation.

31. QUANTITY  What are some factors to consider when determining the strength and amount of fluid to infect?

32. CHAPTER 6  The rest of this chapter is in my opinion a re-write of chapter 6. For review know when the various types of chemicals are used.