# Understanding Cemetery Odors
## Maintenance and Location
Cemeteries are well-maintained, have groundskeeping. This helps keep the area clean and free from debris that could cause odor. Additionally, cemeteries are often located in rural areas, away from dense population centers, which lowers the chance of bad smells caused by a high concentration of people and animals.
## Traditional Burial Practices
Bodies are embalmed with preservative formaldehyde, and blood is drained. This embalming process means the body does not rot but instead dries out. Coffins are air tight and buried beneath the ground, further preventing any odors from escaping.
## Mausoleum Design
Mausoleums are designed not to smell. The bodies placed in a crypt dehydrate and become like mummies, not decomposing in the traditional sense. Crypts have proper ventilation and drainage to prevent any leakage of smells.
## Decomposition and Death
The smell of death is a complex mixture of over 400 compounds produced as bacteria break down bodily tissues into gases and salts. The composition of these compounds changes as decomposition progresses.
## Do Above Ground Graves Smell?
### Mausoleum Ventilation
When you place a casket in a mausoleum, the decomposition process occurs above ground. But a properly designed mausoleum will have vents to emit gases where they will not be noticed.
### Ground Absorption and Leachate
Every 15 or 16 pounds of body weight produces a gallon of leachate, which has a fishy smell. In cemeteries, this liquid of decomposition seeps into the ground and can mix with the groundwater, especially in sandy or gravelly soil.
### State Legislations and Forever Graves
Each state has regulations for how cemeteries are managed to ensure that they can maintain a grave "forever," except for religious cemeteries, which often maintain their own standards.
### Above-Ground Burial Advantages
Above-ground tombs often appear in areas where the ground is too hard or wet for traditional burials. They are the only dry form of burial and are advantageous in flood-prone areas.
### Durability of Metal Caskets
Metal caskets last longer, especially when the gravesite has low water content or moisture. Under favorable conditions, metal caskets may last up to 80 years.
### Natural Scents of Cemeteries
Cemeteries will also have the usual smells of mown lawns and flowers. Properly run cemeteries prevent the gases released from decomposing bodies from becoming a problem.
### Mausoleum Structure and Benefits
Traditional mausoleums, structured in stacks in a freestanding building, provide an efficient use of ground space and do not require burial vaults. Mausoleum burial is clean, dry, and ventilated.
### Burial and Interment Options
The intact or cremated remains of people may be interred in various structures, including a grave, tomb, mausoleum, columbarium, niche, or other edifices.
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