--- title: Formaldehyde Risks: Why Funeral Directors Are At Higher Risk for ALS description: Men who have jobs with high exposure to the chemical formaldehyde, like funeral directors who embalm, are at greater risk of dying from ALS canonical: https://time.com/3956241/funeral-directors-als/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-14T16:13:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:06.245Z article:section: Health og:title: Why Funeral Directors May Be at Higher Risk for ALS og:description: Men who have jobs with high exposure to the chemical formaldehyde, like funeral directors who embalm, are at greater risk of dying from ALS og:url: https://time.com/3956241/funeral-directors-als/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7b8179b02a849ab/69885acb0a4a2296659c522b/funeral-coffin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: coffin og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Funeral Directors May Be at Higher Risk for ALS twitter:description: Men who have jobs with high exposure to the chemical formaldehyde, like funeral directors who embalm, are at greater risk of dying from ALS twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7b8179b02a849ab/69885acb0a4a2296659c522b/funeral-coffin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Funeral Directors May Be at Higher Risk for ALS > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=4610dd72-c909-4188-8dfb-ac50763b6ab3&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Do Brain Exercises Really Keep You Mentally Fit? [Watch (HLS stream): Do Brain Exercises Really Keep You Mentally Fit?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/t67dFcgw.m3u8) (2:03)  _Published 2015-05-15. Do Brain Exercises Really Keep You Mentally Fit?_  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 14, 2015 4:13 PM UTC  Coffin on stage Coffin on stage Getty Images  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 14, 2015 4:13 PM UTC Men who have jobs where they’re exposed to high levels of the chemical formaldehyde are at much greater risk of dying from ALS—amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease and widely publicized by the [Ice Bucket Challenge](http://time.com/3136458/viral-als-ice-bucket-challenge-funds-raised-15-million/)—than people with no exposure, according to new research. When it comes to high, intense levels of exposure to formaldehyde, one occupation rises above them all: funeral directors. “We weren’t expecting this result,” says Andrea Roberts, one of the authors of the study and a research associate in the department of social and behavioral sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The research, which was published as a [letter](http://jnnp.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/jnnp-2015-310750) in the _Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry_, adds to the growing and sometimes conflicting data of formaldehyde’s relationship to the very rare disease ALS. The study looked at the connection between deaths from ALS and occupational exposure to formaldehyde. Using a national dataset of 1.5 million Americans who provided job information, the researchers then sorted the occupations by levels of formaldehyde exposure and looked at death certificates to determine who in the sample died from ALS. Men with high, consistent exposure to formaldehyde—all funeral directors—were almost 4.5 times more likely to die from ALS than men who had jobs with no formaldehyde exposure, Roberts says. It’s worth noting, however, that there were only two deaths from ALS in the sample of men with high and intense exposure. Interestingly, the strong effect for funeral directors was only found in men—but that may have more to do with the fact that there were so few female funeral directors in the database. Female funeral workers may also have different job descriptions. “Women have a tendency to be more involved with dealing with the clients, not the back-office actual embalming,” Roberts says. But for male funeral directors, the field includes embalming—which means regular exposure to chemicals like formaldehyde, which is absorbed through the skin during the embalming process, the authors write. Embalming isn’t the only industry to use formaldehyde; textile manufacturing and labs may use it too, although workers there are likely exposed to much lower and less consistent levels. The study doesn’t prove that the formaldehyde exposure during embalming causes ALS, and funeral directors are exposed to all sorts of things that could also be contributing to the association, including other embalming chemicals and bacteria and viruses present in cadavers that had been ill at the end of life, Roberts says. But the association is a hint that the potential health risks of the job may deserve a closer look. “It really suggests that we should do a study of this industry,” she says. “The bottom line is we know almost nothing about what causes ALS, so any clues that we can get might be relevant, and hopefully would be relevant, not just for people in this profession but for other people as well.” ## Transcript You're watching everwell. Know more. Live better. [ MUSIC ] I enjoy playing Scrabble from time to time. It keeps me thinking about words and it's fun. I do the Sunday crossword puzzle every week, to keep my mind active. It is an idea that's really caught on, that exercising your brain regularly, with puzzles for example, can keep your mind sharp, and ward off dementia and Alzheimer's disease. And it's become big business. Today you can find video games, DVDs and special software that promise to keep you mentally fit. There are also subscription websites which charge about $ 100 a year for an array of brain boosting games. In a way it makes sense. Just as physical activity can keep your body strong, mental exercise can keep your brain in shape. But is it really true? Studies show that brain training can help improve your memory. But that's different from warding off dementia. And people who do stimulating activities like reading, learning a new language, or playing a musical instrument have lower rates of dementia and Alzheimer's but this doesn't necessarily prove cause and effect. [ MUSIC ] So the bottom line, the jury is still out. Still it's a good idea to keep your mind active, but you don't need to spend a lot on special products. Anything from crossword puzzles to challenging board games can do the trick. Perhaps the best thing for your brain is regular physical activity. Research shows it can help improve older people's ability to remember and process information more quickly. [ NOISE ] So next time you forget where you parked your car, don't sweat it. Just use it as an opportunity to go for a walk. Your brain will thank you. 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