Eterneva Partners with TDI-Brooks / B&B Laboratories for Total Carbon Analysis on Carbon in Cremated Remains

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Eterneva, an Austin startup that celebrates remarkable people and pets by turning their ashes into diamonds, recently provided samples to TDI-Brooks / B&B Laboratories to add greater transparency to the memorial diamond industry and the ashes to diamond transformation process.

Eterneva customers can now have their loved one's cremated remains or hair analyzed in B&B Laboratories' analytical chemistry facility to learn the exact percent of carbon contained in the ashes or hair. This carbon is what Eterneva uses to create a memorial diamond.

"We straddle two industries which are historically not very transparent for consumers: the funeral industry and the diamond industry," says Adelle Archer, CEO and Co-Founder at Eterneva. "In fact, that's why we got into this space - I lost a friend of mine to pancreatic cancer and loved the idea of turning her ashes into a diamond, but I didn't feel comfortable sending her away because the process wasn't transparent. As young mission-driven millennials, we became passionate about providing a better experience and partnering with the scientific community to provide transparency into how our memorial diamonds are made. This is such a beautiful, healing way to memorialize someone, and we want to make sure that this journey, similar to the grief journey itself, is as personal and thoughtful as a family wants it to be."

Families can choose if they want to have the carbon content of their loved one's cremated remains tested before beginning the ashes to diamonds process. If they choose this option, they can send a small sample of their loved one's ashes directly to B&B Laboratories in College Station, Texas, where analytical chemists will run a Total Carbon Analysis to measure the organic and inorganic carbon composition of their loved one's cremated ashes, aquamation ashes, or hair sample.

B&B Laboratories is a state-of-the-art laboratory affiliated with TDI-Brooks International; both owned and operated by well-known geochemists Dr. Jim Brooks and Dr. Bernie Bernard in College Station, Texas. Their highly-skilled scientists and chemists have worked in partnership with federal and state agencies as well as the private energy and environmental industry for over 40 years testing the carbon contents in materials, waters, soils, and ocean sediments. Their deepsea work has resulted and contributed to the discoveries of oil and gas seepage, as well as chemosynthetic communities and gas hydrates on the ocean bottom. 

After testing three separate samples of cremated ashes, aquamation ashes, and hair, B&B Laboratories found the cremated remains sample to contain 3.28% carbon, the hair sample to contain 36.66% carbon, and the aquamation sample to contain 16.91% carbon. Only one gram of carbon is needed to grow a diamond, meaning there is more than enough carbon from 1/2 a cup of any of these samples to grow multiple diamonds.

"Something we've learned through our partnership with B&B Laboratories is that every individual body contains different levels of carbon and its isotopes depending on your diet, the age you died, and even any medical treatment you may have been on," says Archer. "Carbon is such an important part of what makes us who we are ?? and we affect it as much as it affects us. It's such a cool thing to see our physical makeup come full circle like this. We can't wait to see what new information we begin to provide to customers in the future thanks to B&B Laboratories and their expertise in carbon analysis."

For more information on the carbon analysis of remains, Eterneva and B&B Laboratories have produced a short video showcasing the chain of custody and results.

To begin the Eterneva memorial diamond journey, contact the Eterneva team at Eterneva.com.

About Eterneva:
Eterneva is a consumer technology company and death wellness brand that celebrates lives by making diamonds from ashes. Eterneva designed an intricate eight-month process to create these soulful remembrances, which is a journey that is as special as the diamond and the person behind it. Customers personalize diamonds' size, color, cut, and inscriptions, so they serve as meaningful connections to the loved ones behind it. From interactive video packaging to hand-written letters, to a courier service that hand-delivers the diamond, customers experience a level of thoughtfulness they've never seen before. Eterneva is based in Austin, TX, and was recently featured on Shark Tank, and both Inc and Forbes' 30 Under 30 lists. To learn more visit eterneva.com, hear from customers at Eterneva reviews, and learn more about the ashes to diamonds process.

About TDI-Brooks and B&B Laboratories:
Learn more about TDI-Brooks International and their decades of forensic and analytical chemistry work here. TDI-Brooks, along with laboratory affiliate B&B Laboratories, maintains a state-of-the-art laboratory facility in College Station, Texas that provides high-quality analytical services and scientific interpretation. Their environmental, geochemical, and geotechnical laboratories are staffed with highly skilled scientists and chemists who have worked in partnership with federal and state agencies as well as the private energy and environmental industry for over 20 years.

SOURCE Eterneva