I’ve written several blogs on mercury being released during cremation from dental amalgams. I’ve made no apologies for my position on supporting decedent rights on the issue that they should not have to endure the pulling of their teeth after their final suffering. I understand that they are dead and it won’t hurt. However, my overall opposition comes back to the lack of evidence that this is a legitimate problem worth compromising the dignity of a corpse in a matter that their teeth would pulled out of their mouth. It just seems barbaric to me that we would do this knowing that our current statistics show that all the crematories in the United States make up less than 1% of mercury emissions. I recently spoke to an environmentalist knowledgeable about this topic and he can’t understand why this is even an issue. He stated that environmentalists have much bigger worries than this.

This issue is expected to once again hit the legislative capitol in Minnesota. For the past 5 years, Senator John Marty (D) continues to introduce one form or another of a bill proposing the removal of mercury from human bodies before cremation. Colorado has term limits so I thought, wait a year, he’ll term out and then someone else will have to pick up the cause. Then I learned that Minnesota doesn’t have term limits and Senator Marty is in his 7th term. The conclusion… this issue is not going away and the Minnesota funeral directors will have to deal with it.

Subsequently, the Minnesota Funeral Directors are now looking at ways to be part of the solution, not part of problem. This may mean they will not fight the bill this session, but may in fact help sculpt it so that they can live with whatever bill may (or may not) be passed. What a quandary for any profession to be in. Darned if you do, darned if you don’t.

Here’s a copy of the bill as it was written and introduced in last Legislative Session. End of Life Insights will follow any new bill on the subject that may be introduced, and keep you informed.

I just hope that when people ask me, “Isn’t it true that Colorado is the only State in the Country that doesn’t have licensure?” I don’t have to respond, “Yes, and Minnesota is the only State that pulls teeth.”