I was just wondering out of personal curiosity as much as anything, why were lead lined coffins used? And when did this stop being routine practise? I assume that this is not what would be considered normal practise in a modern setting, since I have naively assumed that the majority of modern coffins would be wood based and not have any form of metal lining.

Thanks

Kirstie Ogilvie

Contaminated Land Officer

South Lanarkshire Council

Tel: 01698 453845

Lucy

Previous crypt removals of lead coffins have shown very high concentrations of lead (100,000mg/kg) present in the dust in a crypt, way above occupational exposure levels. The lead oxidises forming a white dust on the outside so the PPE is a must. I have not as yet come across any articles referring to the issue of the lead in soils, this I guess may have been overlooked.

The lead coffins are often seal by solder. One of the primary concerns would be the coffin liquor. The coffin liquor is the liquid residue which remains in the lead coffin after the decomposition of the cadaver, this is potentially very unpleasant and dangerous for the workers. You may want to ensure that they know that these people did not die of some particularly unpleasant disease such as small pox or anthrax before they are removed, which could still pose a risk. Public Health England should be able to provide some guidance and I can provide some guidance documents I have found previously if they are of interest, they don’t. You have to be specially licenced to remove coffins, so the people involved in the removal and reburial should be specialist undertakers who know what they are doing with regards the dust and biohazard issues, but maybe not the lead risk in soils.

As Richard the III is being buried in a lead lined oak coffin today, so the practice must still be accepted.

Hi all, a bit of a strange one that I’d appreciate any advice on….

As part of redevelopment, a crypt beneath a church is being dug up and lead lined coffins have been discovered which are planned to be removed and re-interred in part of the graveyard.  The construction workers expressed concern at the dangers of these lead lined coffins and any airborne lead soil particles.  PPE has been recommended to address the airborne side of things and the soils around the coffins were tested and concluded to contain high levels of lead (what a surprise).  My query is that the soils around the coffins and the coffins have to be reburied on site (rules of re-interment) but this means introducing lead affected soils to new areas of the graveyard along with exposed lead coffins (the oak outside layer has long since disintegrated).  There is some suggestion of wrapping the lead coffins in heavy duty poly sheets however this still leaves the issue of the lead affected soils being introduced into the graveyard new graves.

Any advice on how to advise the church on whether this is a contaminated land issue and if so how to address any contaminated land concerns?!

Many thanks,

Please note my working hours are 7.30am-5pm Monday-Thursday. Outside of these times please direct any urgent Contaminated Land enquiries to Peter Burke [log in to unmask]

Lucy Hawkings | Contaminated Land Officer | Runnymede Borough Council

[log in to unmask] | 01932 425714 (direct line) www.runnymede.gov.uk

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