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A comment on Washington state lawmakers approve human corpse composting. Parent comment

Re:Washington state lawmakers approve human corpse composting by dbingham on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @04:25PM (#19985072)
Aerobic composting done right largely sterilizes the compost pile. It kills most harmful bacteria (and in the case of garden compost, weed seeds) because the pile heats to a really high temperature (140F+).
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Re:Washington state lawmakers approve human corpse composting by shawnz on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @04:30PM (#19985115)
What about prions? Would they be eliminated by this method?
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Re:Washington state lawmakers approve human corpse composting by giarc on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @04:35PM (#19985172)
Likely not, however as I posted elsewhere in this thread, those with confirmed or suspected CJD would fall under other public health laws regarding handling of the deceased.
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Re:Washington state lawmakers approve human corpse composting by txru on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @04:43PM (#19985277)
Prions aren't eliminated by any of our burial methods anyway. I think the best thing you can hope for is preventing animals from eating contaminated tissue. That wouldn't be an issue with any legal method of human remains disposal.
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Re:Washington state lawmakers approve human corpse composting by somebodythere on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @05:40PM (#19985839)
Aren't prions eliminated by cremation?
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Re:Washington state lawmakers approve human corpse composting by txru on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @06:06PM (#19986066)
Ah yeah you're right. I knew they couldn't be destroyed by an autoclave, and I misunderstood what exactly those do. They're only pressure and heat above boiling (120*C).
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Re:Washington state lawmakers approve human corpse composting by Fomite on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @07:04PM (#19986559)
Note that cremation produces its own human-health, especially in the form of mercury output from vaporized dental amalgams.
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