SGS Beta’s radiocarbon dating lab revolutionized the fields of archaeology and late quaternary geology. SGS Beta was founded as “Beta Analytic”. Prior to the company’s inception in 1979, radiocarbon dates were scarce and available only through small university laboratories. SGS Beta’s commitment to meet the scientific community’s demand for fast yet accurate carbon dating analysis led to immediate success.
Beta Analytic joined the Industries & Environment division of SGS North America in November 2024. By integrating Beta’s specialized services, SGS can offer more innovative and targeted solutions to help its clients meet their goals and requirements across multiple industries.
SGS is the world’s leading testing, inspection and certification company, recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. SGS Beta continues its commitment to provide clients worldwide with accurate and reliable radiocarbon dating services and stable isotope analysis with results reported in a timely manner.
SGS Beta is able to offer rapid service because all analyses are done in-house. The lab has multiple accelerators with very high redundancy in spare parts ensuring that delivery times are met consistently. The lab has a dedicated full-time staff of technicians and scientists working overtime, if necessary, to meet its promised delivery times.
SGS Beta’s research associates and technical managers welcome discussion before, during, and after the analyses. Clients are not charged for technical support.
Clients have online access to results from any device and can download calibration and QA reports 24/7 via the mobile-responsive results portal on the lab’s website.
We have a dedicated customer support team providing shipping assistance to a global clientele and offering technical support throughout the submittal and analytical procedure by email, phone, or website chat. SGS Beta has representatives offering assistance and advice in Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Portuguese.
Our dates are part of thousands of publications in high impact factor journals worldwide such as Nature, Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), to name a few.
Prices in all major currencies
Depending on your region, the lab can provide prices in EUR, GBP, JPY, KRW, RMB, TWD and USD.
Convenient shipping to multiple forwarding facilities
The lab has forwarding offices in Europe (Germany, Norway, Spain, UK) and Asia (China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan). All packages shipped to these offices are forwarded to Miami, Florida, via overnight courier service at SGS Beta’s expense.
Tracer-free laboratory – we do not accept biomedical samples
To eliminate the risk of cross-contamination, the lab does not accept pharmaceutical samples with “tracer Carbon-14” or any other material containing artificial radiocarbon (14C).
SGS Beta was the first radiocarbon dating laboratory to be accredited ISO/IEC 17025:2017 worldwide operating in conformance with ISO 9001:2008 management system requirements.
Since 2008, the lab has been annually awarded the ISO 17025 accreditation after undergoing third-party audits conducted by Perry Johnson Laboratory Accreditation (PJLA), showing that SGS Beta’s technical abilities, management, facilities, and business operations have been consistently maintained to the highest possible standards.
SGS Beta is equipped with multiple accelerator mass spectrometers (AMS) as well as isotope ratio mass spectrometers (IRMS) and cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) system for measuring stable isotopes such as δ13C, δ15N, δ18O, δ170, and δD.
If you have any questions or clarifications, please email us at lab@radiocarbon.com or call (+1) 305-667-5167.
Page last updated: March 2025
