What Happens To Your Prosthetics After You Die?
Artificial Pacemaker Wikimedia Commons As prosthetics become more common, they are increasingly left over when people die. Where do they go? In the case of "inert" implants, like silicone breast implants or artificial hips, they are often left in and buried with the body, writes Frank Swain for the BBC. In the case of cremation, silicone burns up, but metal hips and the like are usually separated from the ashes and disposed. Other metals may be collected, like gold fillings--for instance, the Dutch company Orthometals removes 250 tons of metal annually from crematoriums around Europe to sell. "After you die, a little piece of you may one day end up in an aeroplane, a wind turbine, or even another person," Swain writes. Pacemakers, internal cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) and other prosthetics with electronic components are usually removed,...