Decomposition human process

Grave wax" is a term for a crumbly, waxy substance called adipocere. Adipocere starts to form on the human body about a month after it is buried. It forms easily on the fatty parts of the body such as the cheeks, abdomen, and buttocks. The waxy adipocere protects the body from further decomposition and has even been found on 10O-year-old exhumed corpses. This buildup occurs when a body is buried in highly basic (alkaline) soil. The waxy substance is produced by a chemical reaction between the basic soil and fats in the body in a process called saponification. Saponification is also the process used in the manufacture of soap. 

Chemical facilities have to be operated safely during normal operation as well as during deviations from the specified process and equipment parameters. Chemical reactions that go to completion can only become a hazard for humans and the environment when process pressures or temperatures rise beyond the equipment design parameters of a facility e.g., as result of a runaway reaction. For example unacceptable pressure increases can develop as a result of exothermic processes with inadequate heat sinks or reactions that produce gaseous products (e.g., decompositions). 

Radicals control the chemistry of the upper atmosphere, where they contribute to the formation and decomposition of ozone. Radicals also play a role in our daily lives, sometimes a destructive one. They are responsible for the rancidity of foods and the degradation of plastics in sunlight. Damage from radicals can be delayed by an additive called an antioxidant, which reacts rapidly with radicals before the radicals have a chance to do their damage. It is believed that human aging is partly due to the action of radicals, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E may delay the process (see Box 2.1). 

To review some established concepts and standard terminologies used in pedology that have practical relevance to forensic science and to insoil human decomposition processes... 

Nature of Soils Relevant to Forensic Soil Science and Human Decomposition Processes... 

Galloway, A. (1997). The process of decomposition a model from the Arizona-Sonoran desert, in Forensic Taphonomy The Postmortem Fate of Human Remains (W. D. Flaglund and M. H. Sorg, Eds.). Boca Raton, FL CRC Press, 139-150. 

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