Texas Administrative Code › Title 22 - EXAMINING BOARDS › Part 10 - TEXAS FUNERAL SERVICE COMMISSION › Chapter 203 - LICENSING AND ENFORCEMENT-SPECIFIC SUBSTANTIVE RULES › Subchapter B - DUTIES OF A FUNERAL ESTABLISHMENT/LICENSEE › Section 203.32 - Requirements Relating to Embalming

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) In
				  order to ensure the maximum inhibition of pathogenic organisms in the dead
				  human body, the following minimum standards of performance shall be required of
				  each licensed embalmer in the State of Texas in each instance in which he or
				  she is authorized or required to embalm a dead human body.
(1) Embalming shall be performed only by
				  embalmers licensed by the Commission, in properly equipped and licensed
				  establishments, or in the event of a disaster of major proportions, in
				  facilities designated by a Medical Examiner, Coroner, or state health official.
				  Only three types of people may under certain circumstances assist licensed
				  embalmers in embalming: provisional licensed embalmers under the personal
				  supervision of a licensed embalmer; students who are enrolled in an accredited
				  school of mortuary science working on a case intended toward completion of the
				  student's clinical requirements, under the personal supervision of a licensed
				  embalmer and with written permission to assist the embalmer from a family
				  member or the person responsible for making arrangements for final disposition;
				  and, in the event of a disaster of major proportions and with the prior
				  approval of the Executive Director, embalmers licensed in another state as long
				  as they are working with or under the general supervision of a person licensed
				  as an embalmer in this state.
(2)
				  Embalmers are required to utilize all personal protective equipment required by
				  either OSHA or its corresponding state agency during the embalming
				  procedure.
(3) Clothing and/or
				  personal effects of the decedent shall either be disinfected before delivery to
				  any person or discarded in a manner consistent with the disposal of
				  biohazardous material.
(4) The
				  technique utilized to effect eye, mouth, and lip closure shall be any technique
				  accepted as standard in the profession. Regardless of the technique chosen, the
				  embalmer shall be required to achieve the best results possible under
				  prevailing conditions.
(5) The
				  entire body may be thoroughly cleaned before arterial injection and shall be
				  cleaned immediately after the embalming procedure with an antiseptic soap or
				  detergent.
(6) Body orifices
				  (nostrils, mouth, anus, vagina, ear canals, and urethra) open lesions, and
				  other surgical incisions shall be treated with appropriate topical
				  disinfectants either before or immediately after arterial injection. After
				  cavity treatment has been completed, body orifices shall be packed in cotton
				  saturated with a suitable disinfectant of a phenol coefficient not less than
				  one in cases where purge is evident or is likely to occur and/or when the body
				  is to be transported out of state or by common carrier.
(7) The arterial fluid to be injected shall
				  be one commercially prepared and marketed with its percent of formaldehyde, or
				  other approved substance, by volume (index) clearly marked on the label or in
				  printed material supplied by the manufacturer.
(8) The fluids selected shall be injected
				  into all bodies in such dilutions and at such pressures as the professional
				  experience of the embalmer shall indicate, except that in no instance shall
				  dilute solution contain less than 1.0% formaldehyde, or an approved substance
				  that acts the same as formaldehyde, and as the professional experience of the
				  embalmer indicates, one gallon of dilute solution shall be used for each 50
				  pounds of body weight. Computation of solution strength is as follows: C x V =
				  C' x V', where C = strength of concentrated fluid, V = volume of ounces of
				  concentrated fluid, C' = strength of dilute fluid, and V' = volume of ounces of
				  dilute fluid
(9) Abdominal and
				  thoracic cavities shall be treated in the following manner.
(A) Liquid, semi-solid, and gaseous contents
				  which can be withdrawn through a trocar shall be aspirated by the use of the
				  highest vacuum pressure attainable.
(B) Concentrated, commercially prepared
				  cavity fluid which is acidic in nature (6.5 pH or lower) and contains at least
				  two preservative chemicals shall be injected and evenly distributed throughout
				  the aspirated cavities. A minimum of 16 ounces of concentrated cavity fluid
				  shall be used in any embalming case in which a minimum of two gallons of
				  arterial solution has been injected.
(C) Should distension and/or purge occur
				  after treatment, aspiration and injection as required shall be repeated as
				  necessary.
(10) The
				  embalmer shall be required to check each body thoroughly after treatment has
				  been completed. Any area not adequately disinfected by arterial and/or cavity
				  treatment shall be injected hypodermically with disinfectant and preservative
				  fluid of maximum results. A disinfectant and preservative medium shall be
				  applied topically in those cases which require further treatment.
(11) On bodies in which the arterial
				  circulation is incomplete or impaired by advance decomposition, burns, trauma,
				  autopsy, or any other cause, the embalmer shall be required to use the
				  hypodermic method to inject all areas which cannot be properly treated through
				  whatever arterial circulation remains intact (if any).
(12) In the event that the procedures in
				  paragraphs (1) - (11) of this subsection leave a dead human body in condition
				  to constitute a high risk of infection to anyone handling the body, the
				  embalmer shall be required to apply to the exterior of the body an appropriate
				  embalming medium in powder or gel form and to enclose the body in a zippered
				  plastic or rubber pouch prior to burial or other disposal.
(13) Dead human bodies donated to the State
				  Anatomical Board shall be embalmed as required by the State Anatomical Board
				  and where conflicting requirements exist, those requirements of the State
				  Anatomical Board shall prevail.
(14) All bodies should be treated in such
				  manner and maintained in such an atmosphere as to avoid infestation by vermin,
				  maggots, ants, and other insects; however, should these conditions occur, the
				  body should be treated with an effective vermicide and/or insecticide to
				  eliminate these conditions.
(15) No
				  licensed establishment or licensed embalmer shall take into its or the
				  embalmer's care any dead human body for embalming without exerting every
				  professional effort, and employing every possible technique or chemical, to
				  achieve the highest level of disinfecting.
(16) Nothing in this section shall be
				  interpreted to prohibit the use of supplemental or additional procedures or
				  chemicals which are known to and accepted in the funeral service profession and
				  which are not specifically mentioned in this subsection.