Dodge Company
The Dodge Company calls itself "the world's leading supplier of embalming chemicals".[1] Its executive office is in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, and it has subsidiaries in the UK and Canada, as well as elsewhere in the US.[2]
Lobbying activities
The Dodge Company joined other funeral groups, including the National Association of Funeral Directors, in "a series of briefings with influential members of the European Parliament and European Commission in Brussels".[3]
One of the issues discussed at these meetings was the Biocides Directive, a European regulation designed to protect the public from harmful biocidal substances such as formaldehyde, which is routinely used in embalming. The directive is also intended to harmonize formaldehyde's regulation across the whole of Europe. The Centre for Natural Burial reports that the funeral industry fears that the directive "could put makers of embalming fluid out of business and threaten the livelihoods of those who practice the craft". It is estimated that there are 2,500 to 3,000 embalmers throughout Europe. All of them, in some way or another, are affected by the directive.[4]
The directive, it is feared, may mean that embalming fluid manufacturers will have to pay for a variety of safety tests. Adrian Haler, managing director of the U.K. subsidiary of the Dodge Company, the leading supplier of embalming fluid to funeral homes in the United States, said, “I don’t think it’s likely anyone could afford to get the tests done. ... They are talking about 350,000 pounds (about $654,500) for the tests necessary. And if you bump up the price for the chemical, no one will buy it.”[5]
References
- ↑ About, Dodge Co website, acc 29 Mar 2010
- ↑ Directory, Dodge Co website, acc 29 Mar 2010
- ↑ NAFD makes headway on European funeral issues, NAFD website, undated, acc 29 Mar 2010
- ↑ Parmalee, Thomas A., Biocides Directive Causes Storm Of Controversy, Centre for Natural Burial website, Sept 30 2007, acc 29 Mar 2010
- ↑ Parmalee, Thomas A., Biocides Directive Causes Storm Of Controversy, Centre for Natural Burial website, Sept 30 2007, acc 29 Mar 2010
