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. 2023 Oct 8;20(19):6898.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20196898.

Could Necroleachate Be the Cemetery's Sewage? A Panorama from Brazilian Legislation

Ana Paula Chein Bueno de Azevedo  1 , Telma Abdalla de Oliveira Cardoso  1 , Simone Cynamon Cohen  2
Affiliations

Could Necroleachate Be the Cemetery's Sewage? A Panorama from Brazilian Legislation

Ana Paula Chein Bueno de Azevedo et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Cemeteries can be compared to landfills, as the leachate produced in these areas, also known as necroleachate, can be environmentally transported, polluting groundwater, surface water, and soil. In Brazil, to ensure no negative environmental impacts and public health risks, cemetery management is the responsibility of states and municipalities. In this context, this article aims to discuss Brazilian sanitary-environmental legislation concerning cemetery waste management. Only half of all Brazilian states have established sanitary-environmental cemetery legislation, and only 19 municipalities have specific laws. These laws, however, are broad and contain many gaps. Necroleachate care and control require both sanitary and environmental assessments to avoid environmental vulnerability and contamination risks for populations inhabiting surrounding areas. In this regard, new water analysis parameters in environmentally vulnerable areas should be established to control the population's drinking water quality, such as the detection of C. perfringens. Furthermore, the construction of vertical cemeteries instead of horizontal ones and the adoption of cremation procedures should also be considered. This assessment comprises a novel research framework, as no studies on the impact of Brazilian laws on environmental necroleachate contamination are available to date.

Keywords: Brazil; cemetery; legislation; public health; waste management.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Microorganisms isolated from cemetery soil in São Paulo, Brazil. Adapted from Ueda et al. [80].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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