Workers exposed to beryllium are at risk of developing serious‚ debilitating diseases. Chronic beryllium disease (CBD or berylliosis) is a painful scarring of the lung tissue. Less common than CBD‚ acute (short—term) beryllium disease causes lung inflammation resembling pneumonia. In severe cases‚ both diseases may be fatal.

The Department of Health and Human Services‚ the Environmental Protection Agency‚ and the International Agency for Research on Cancer consider beryllium to be carcinogenic. Various studies implicate beryllium in lung cancer. Individuals with a history of beryllium exposure who develop lung cancer should be evaluated to determine if beryllium played a role in causing the cancer.

Chronic beryllium disease (berylliosis or CBD)

CBD victims first develop “beryllium sensitization”‚ which is an allergic response to beryllium. Symptoms of the disease include cough‚ shortness of breath‚ fatigue‚ fevers‚ skin rash‚ and night sweats. In the later stages‚ lung tissue becomes scarred. In severe cases‚ the right side of the heart may be strained due to increased pressure in the pulmonary artery from lung damage. (Beryllium‚ a Chronic Problem‚ Environmental Health Perspectives; Diseases Due to Inorganic Dusts‚ Merck Manual).

The average time from first beryllium exposure to the development of CBD symptoms (the latency period) can be a few months or as long as forty years (Medfacts‚ National Jewish Medical & Research Center). Once a person has been exposed to beryllium‚ there is a lifelong risk of developing the disease.

Acute beryllium disease (ABD) is caused by breathing in relatively high concentrations of beryllium in dust and metal fumes (Beryllium‚ a Chronic Problem‚ Environmental Health Perspectives). Symptoms associated with ABD include difficulty breathing‚ cough‚ and chest pain.

Skin irritation is another potential beryllium—related health problem. Exposure to beryllium dust or soluble compounds may cause a skin disease which is characterized by poor wound healing and wart—like bumps. A skin rash may also be one of the early symptoms of CBD or berylliosis.

Beryllium particles may become embedded in skin that has been scraped or cut‚ resulting in skin ulcers. Beryllium particles must be removed if the skin wounds are to have any chance of healing.

When people think about exposure to beryllium, those who work in the atomic energy and defense industries usually come to mind. Exposure hazards also exist in other industries, however, including the space, aeronautics, computer, and electronics fields. Grinders, machinists, hot press operators, and welders who come into contact with beryllium or its compounds are at particular risk. Even dental technicians who machine or polish dental alloys containing beryllium may be affected. Generally, any process or workplace where beryllium can become airborne, in the form of microscopic particles, dust, or fumes, presents a serious health hazard for workers.

Department of Energy and other government facilities that use beryllium are located throughout the United States. In addition, potential exposure risks may exist at certain private plants nationwide. See a list of plants and facilities

he risk of exposure is not limited to those working directly with beryllium–it extends to coworkers, support or maintenance staff at a plant using beryllium, and to the beryllium worker’s family members. For example, janitors or secretaries at a workplace that uses beryllium may be exposed to beryllium dust, fumes or gases. The family member of a beryllium worker who brings home beryllium dust on shoes or clothing also risks exposure.

In the United States, the average concentration of beryllium in the air is very low–about 0.03 nanograms (a nanogram is 1 billionth of a gram) in a cubic meter (Eco–USA: Beryllium). This figure increases to 0.2 nanograms per cubic meter in some cities because beryllium is released from burning coal and fuel oil. Individuals who live near an industry that processes or uses beryllium may be subjected to much higher beryllium levels. Those who live near hazardous landfill sites that contain high concentrations of beryllium may also be exposed to higher than normal levels of the element.

Beryllium is an alkali earth metal, reasonably stable in air, and extremely toxic in powdered form. It's used as an alloying element for copper, imparting great strength and springiness to the metal. Added to aluminum it makes light, strong, stiff alloys used in race cars and in aerospace applications. Solid lumps of beryllium left alone are not dangerous as such: It's not going to rub off and go through your skin, but because of its toxicity, care is needed when machining beryllium or its alloys.

Beryllium is an alkali earth metal, reasonably stable in air, and extremely toxic in powdered form. It's used as an alloying element for copper, imparting great strength and springiness to the metal. Added to aluminum it makes light, strong, stiff alloys used in race cars and in aerospace applications. Solid lumps of beryllium left alone are not dangerous as such: It's not going to rub off and go through your skin, but because of its toxicity, care is needed when machining beryllium or its alloys.

Beryllium oxide is worthy of special note because it is a good electrical insulator, but at the same time a good conductor of heat, which is a somewhat unusual combination. Metals generally conduct both heat and electricity well, while things like wood, rubber, etc, conduct both poorly: There aren't that many materials that do one but not the other. Beryllium oxide is used as a high-voltage insulator because it is able to conduct heat away from components while keeping them isolated electrically (see sample below).

Beryllium is a naturally occurring, silver-grey metal. Lighter than aluminum and more rigid than steel, Be has many unusual properties which make it ideal for several applications, including aircraft and space vehicle structure, x-ray machine assemblage, mirrors, ceramics, metal alloys, and, since the 1950's, nuclear technology including weapons and reactors.

The most significant disadvantage of Be as an industrial material appears to be the toxicity of its dust, fumes, and soluble salts. However, metallic Be has good resistance to alteration or chemical attack and is not easily altered to soluble forms when released to the environment. Most Be in the soils does not dissolve in water and remains bound to the soil particles.

An initiator is a device that produces a timed burst of neutrons to initiate a fission chain reaction in a nuclear weapon. Initiators made of polonium-210 and beryllium were located at the center of the fissile cores of early atomic weapons. The highly radioactive isotope of Polonium (Po-210) is a strong alpha emitter. Beryllium will absorb alphas and emit neutrons. This isotope of polonium has a half life of almost 140 days, and a neutron initiator using this material needs to have the polonium, which is generated in a nuclear reactor, to be replaced frequently. To supply the initiation pulse of neutrons at the right time, the polonium and the beryllium need to be kept apart until the appropriate moment and then thoroughly and rapidly mixed by the implosion of the weapon.

Beryllium is used as the reflector material (or 'pit liner') in most contemporary American nuclear weapons and thermonuclear primaries. The 'primary', or weapon trigger, consists of three components: the central spherical plutonium 'pit' or core, the Be 'pit liner', and a surrounding high-explosives shaped-charge. The pit liner, sometimes also referred to as the "skull", surrounds the spherical plutonium pit and is in turn surrounded by high explosives. All three of these components together make up a modern nuclear weapon's "primary", or trigger, which initiates the thermonuclear reaction in a weapon's secondary components. The beryllium liner effectively acts as 1) a reflector which directs neutrons back into the plutonium pit; 2) a tamper which initially contains and thereby helps to increase the force of the explosion; and 3) a generator of additional neutrons.2 A flux of neutrons at the beginning of a nuclear weapon's detonation initiates critical mass, which subsequently leads to the weapon's designed destructive yield.

The Department of Energy uses beryllium metal to fabricate weapons components and to facilitate a number of weapons-related experiments. Based on its analysis of the President's 2001 Nuclear Posture Review, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) estimated that it would need approximately 90 tons of beryllium metal to meet mission requirements over the next 30 years. About 50 tons of the material is currently available for purchase from the Defense Department's National Defense Stockpile. Because the only domestic producer of beryllium metal from ore ceased production in 2000, NNSA had been uncertai how it would overcome the perceived shortfall.

NNSA's existing beryllium metal weapon component manufacturing process involves machining down large blocks of beryllium metal so that only about four percent of the feed material ends up in the final product. This means that the process results in a discard of 96 percent of the material as scrap. Technical experts explained that this metal could not be reused for weapons production without reprocessing since it contains impurities from the manufacturing process. Near-net shaping, on the other hand, is a process by which beryllium powder is sized to a shape closer to that of the final parts, thereby allowing NNSA to use significantly less beryllium metal to manufacture the same parts.

Beryllium Is a Silver-Gray Metallic Element That Occurs Naturally in About 30 Minerals. Beryllium was discovered in 1798, but it was not widely used in industry until the 1940s and 1950s. In industrial applications beryllium can be:

* used as pure metal

* mixed with other metals to form alloys

* processed to salts that dissolve in water

* processed to form oxides and ceramic materials

Beryllium-Containing Minerals Are Found in Rocks, Coal and Oil, Soil, and Volcanic Dust

From these sources, beryllium is emitted into the air and water by natural processes like erosion and by the burning of coal and oil. According to data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average concentration of airborne beryllium in the United States is very small (0.03 nanogram/cubic meter—a nanogram is one-billionth of a gram).

Beryllium used in industry begins as a silicate (BeSiO3) in beryl and bertrandite ores. In a very pure crystalline form, beryl is known to us as gems such as blue-green aquamarine and green emerald.

Bertrandite is mined in Utah, but other ores and scrap are imported into the United States, which is the world’s leading producer, processor, and consumer of beryllium products. According to U.S. Geological Survey reports, total US use of all forms of beryllium in 1996 was about 234 metric tons.

Lighter than Aluminum, Stiffer than Steel—Properties That Make Beryllium Useful

Light weight

* atomic weight is 9.0122

* second lightest of the metals, only 1/3 as heavy as aluminum

* density of 1.85 grams per cubic centimeter is similar to magnesium, and 2/3 that of aluminum

Stiffness or rigidity

* about 6 times stiffer than steel

* can withstand great force before bending

High melting point

* (1285 C) compared to other light metals

* holds its shape over a wide temperature range

High heat-absorption capacity

* a pound will absorb as much heat as 5 pounds of copper

Nonmagnetic

Dimensional stability

Good corrosion resistance

Lowest thermal neutron absorption cross-section of any metal

High permeability (transparency) to X-rays

Can be machined to close tolerances

Many Products and Processes Use Beryllium’s Properties

Beryllium metal has been produced for various industrial uses since the late 1950s.

Both structural and instrument grade materials are manufactured, especially for use in aerospace and defense:

* Windshield frames and other structures in high-speed aircraft and space vehicles

* Aircraft and space shuttle brakes

* Satellite mirrors and space telescopes

* Inertial guidance systems and gyroscopes

* Neutron moderator or reflector in nuclear reactors

* X-ray windows

* Nuclear weapons components

Other Beryllium Materials Include Soluble Salts, Alloys, and Oxide

Soluble salts, such as beryllium fluoride, chloride, and sulfate, are used in nuclear reactors, in glass manufacture, and as catalysts for certain chemical reactions.

Beryllium-copper (BeCu) alloys usually contain about 2 percent beryllium, but vary greatly in composition to meet different industrial and consumer needs. Beryllium contributes hardness, strength, high electrical and thermal conductivity, and resistance to corrosion, wear, and fatigue. For example, BeCu springs “bounce back� to their original shape again and again.

Be alloys are used for:

* Springs, switches, relays, and connectors in automobiles, computers, radar and telecommunications equipment, and other instruments

* High-strength nonsparking tools including some tools sold for use in the home

* Molds or casts to make metal, glass, and plastic items

* Sports equipment such as golf clubs and bicycle frames

* Dental bridges and related applications

Beryllium is also added to aluminum, nickel, zinc, and zirconium for some applications. Beryllium-nickel alloys are used in automobile air bags. A relatively new beryllium-aluminum alloy (the registered trademark is “Beralcast�) is being used in fighter planes, helicopters, and missile systems.

Beryllium Oxide (BeO) Is Used To Make Ceramics for Electronics, Electrical, and Other Equipment

BeO contributes hardness, strength, excellent heat conductivity, and good electrical insulation. In closely packed circuitry (like that in the electronic ignition systems of automobiles), beryllium ceramic layers can draw heat away from other circuit components. Because BeO is transparent to microwaves, it has also been used in microwave ovens.

Despite its Usefulness, Beryllium Is Not an Ideal Material

It is expensive and too brittle to work with in some applications.

The most significant disadvantage of beryllium as an industrial material is the toxicity of its dust, fumes, and soluble salts.

Beryllium’s brittleness is the down side of its advantageous stiffness. Brittleness also increases the hazards associated with beryllium’s toxicity. Unless ventilation and other controls are used, small particles and chips of insoluble beryllium-containing materials break off during machining and other processes and spread through the air in the work area. Inhalation of these tiny particles is the type of exposure that can lead to chronic beryllium disease.

Beryllium Is a Significant Workplace Health Hazard

Exposure to beryllium particles can cause a serious illness in certain people. This illness is chronic beryllium disease, or CBD—an irreversible and sometimes fatal scarring of the lungs.

* Medical studies show that even small amounts of beryllium particles of a size that can be breathed deeply into the lungs may trigger an allergy-like sensitivity in 2-5 percent of people exposed.

* About 1 to 3 percent of all people exposed to beryllium develop CBD. In studies of people in certain occupations where historically exposure to beryllium was greatest (for example, studies of machinists in beryllium operations), this number rises to as many as 10 to 14 percent.

* There is currently no widely available test to find out who is sensitive to beryllium before exposure occurs.

* More than 100 current and former employees of Department of Energy (DOE) sites have CBD. The percentage of people who were exposed and became ill is much larger than similar percentages known for other DOE workplace health hazards.