Metody postępowania ze zwłokami i ich wpływ na środowisko w czasie pandemii COVID-19 z perspektywy zielonej kryminologii

This study addresses the issue of handling human remains during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the environment. We have adopted a green criminology perspective due to the ongoing climate crisis. Despite the problem of environmentally harmful human activities related to the burial of the dead being raised in the scientific discourse, this issue has been neglected by the authorities of countries facing the pandemic. The aim of this study was to consider the extent to which the chaos associated with the increasing number of deaths and the problem of managing the bodies has affected the quality of the environment. We discuss the traditional methods most commonly used in the world, i.e. burial and cremation, and their impact on the environment. We present the recommendations of the World Health Organization for managing the remains of persons who died as a result of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection. We discuss methods for managing the sharply increasing number of victims in three countries: Poland, Brazil and India. We attempt to answer the question of how far the adoption of such methods was necessary from the perspective of the WHO recommendations and, ultimately, how their use affected the environment, particularly the soil, groundwater and air quality. Finally, we briefly review alternative, more environmentally friendly, though less conventional methods of handling bodies.