CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire’s governor is considering a bill that would outlaw dissolving human remains as an alternative to cremation but provide for studies to allow it again eventually.
The state Senate voted Wednesday to send Gov. John Lynch a bill to reverse a 2-year-old law that allows alkaline hydrolysis — a process now used on human cadavers only at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Alkaline hydrolysis is legal in New Hampshire and Minnesota under cremation statutes. The process uses lye, heat and pressure to destroy bodies in stainless-steel cylinders. It leaves a dry bone residue similar to cremated remains. A sterile liquid residue also is produced that, under federal rules, can go down the drain as long as operators have the proper permits.
