INCAPABILITY OF FORMALIN BASED FIXATIVE TO KILL MAGGOT IN MUTILATED HUMAN CARRION

Background: Embalming is a process used to temporarily preserve a human cadaver to forestall decomposition and make it suitable for display at funerals; thus, are agents that prevent autolysis and putrefaction. The outbreak of maggots from a heap of inadequately embalmed bodies due to deep cuts and bodies involved in inferno, necessitated the need to re-investigate the efficacy of formalin based embalming fluid and its inability to kill maggots. Methodology: Various strength of Formaldehyde, Xylene, Kerosene, and, Lime fluid, Isopropanol, Gamalin 20, Potassium ferrocyanide, and Physiological saline as control were used in the investigation. In the present investigation, Two maggots under the same atmospheric condition were put in each of the ten selected chemical reagents/solutions, including Lime, Kerosene, and the Gamalin 20 that are naturally available were initially dispensed into ten glass universal containers. Maggot movements in each reagent solution were critically observed. Result: Maggots death occurred within the first ten minutes in test number three groups III that contains Concentrated Formalin and Xylene and Maggots died after fifteen minute of the experiment, but maggots did not died until about eight hours after the test in two of the experiment. Discussion: Results of this investigation showed clearly that Maggots were not killed as soon as expected by the embalmer when ordinary ten percent alcoholic formalin embalming fluid is used. Equal volume of concentrated formalin plus Xylene was found out to be effective at killing maggot instantly. Conclusion: It is therefore advisable to use Xylene plus Conc. Formalin when preserving cadaver infested with Maggot and this could at the same time prevent the occurrence of Maggots Infestation and better preservation of mass of burnt mutilated corpses in our Mortuary.