My father recently died and is being cremated. He has an artificial ceramic heart valve. Will this valve survive cremation?
The reason why I wondered this was because we were told that a metal numbered disc is put in the body to be the identifier of the ashes, so i thought if that survives what else will. Also it is more of an identifier that it is me dear old PaPa if his heart valve is in the cremains.
Gare, thank you for the info. My Father death is not a sad thing, he was quite ill. I didn't want to keep the valve (it's not part of a pacemaker) I just wanted further id.
I am very sorry you have lost your father to death, I hope it was not a painful thing for him.
The valve could survive, do you want it? You would need to let them know, because even if it is not burned, they crush all things that are not in an ash-like state - sorry. Also, they may not be allowed to retrieve it for you, sounds a little gross, I am not trying to be. typically, once a body gets to this stage, anything a family may want should have been removed.
Was it part of a pacemaker? They have to take this out. The cremation process can attain temperatures of 1600-1800 °F (870-980 °C), you may wish to ask the manufacturer of the ceramic heart valve what its temperature rating is. Toyota researched production of an adiabatic ceramic engine which can run at a temperature of over 6000 °F (3300 °C).
Jewellery, such as wristwatches and rings, are not removed. The only non-natural item required to be removed is a pacemaker. The undertaker is required to sign a declaration to the operator that any pacemaker has been removed. A pacemaker could explode and damage the cremator. The undertaker will remove a pacemaker prior to delivering the body to the crematorium.
This is a great question, others may want to know the answer.
US $14.00
