http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,64537,00.html Beryllium is well-known in the metal-manufacturing industry for its strength and light weight. However, effectively protecting workers from beryllium-related illness remains largely a mystery. Government health officials are continuing to search for monitoring and safety standards that will prevent workers from contracting a potentially fatal disease.

Because it is lightweight and six times stronger than steel, beryllium is combined with other alloys and ceramics for use in jet fighters, satellites, nuclear weapons, computers, consumer electronics, medical equipment and even golf clubs.

"No comparable metal can deliver the same performance and reliability demanded of today's products and systems," according to beryllium-processing company Brush Wellman.

But a small percentage of workers exposed to dust or fumes created during the fabrication of products using beryllium develop an allergic reaction to the metal that can cause cancer and chronic beryllium disease, or CBD, a condition that clogs the lungs. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health classifies beryllium and beryllium compounds as a potential occupational carcinogen. The disease can affect workers' health in as little as three months, or may take longer than 20 years to develop.

In 1949, the Department of Energy set 2 micrograms per cubic meter as the maximum average of beryllium that workers can be exposed to during a workday, a regulation that was adopted as an industry standard by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety

Despite these safeguards, hundreds of workers have been diagnosed with CBD, and new cases are reported every year.

"I question if industrial-hygiene practice is adequate," said Mark Hoover, a senior research physical scientist at NIOSH who has been studying beryllium's effects for more than 20 years. Hoover said the DOE lowered the allowable amount of beryllium exposure in its facilities to 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter in 1998, and the private sector should follow its lead. "(Exposure) should be lowered to the smallest amount achievable."

According to the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, between 2 and 6 percent of people exposed to beryllium will develop an allergic reaction known as beryllium sensitivity. The center's website states that sensitivity to beryllium appears to be genetically based, so while some workers may become ill, others will be unaffected.

Hoover said the most common method of detecting beryllium sensitivity is through the beryllium blood lymphocyte proliferation test, or BeLPT, which analyzes a blood sample to see its reaction to beryllium. The BeLPT is not commonly available at medical facilities, so blood samples are frequently shipped to laboratories such as the National Jewish Medical and Research Center or Biophage.

Rosemonde Mandeville, president of Biophage, said the test costs approximately $150 and results are available within a week. Mandeville said Biophage's primary clients are companies that offer the screening for their employees. "The first thing (for workers) to do is get tested once every 18 months," Mandeville said. Anyone who works where beryllium dust or vapors are present -- including office and janitorial workers -- is at risk for the disease.

If a worker tests positive, Mandeville said some companies will move workers to areas free of beryllium. Mandeville said workers who develop symptoms are frequently given prednisone, an anti-inflammatory steroid, to counteract coughing and breathing difficulties.

But beryllium-processing company Brush Wellman does not recommend or use blood tests to screen new workers at its plants. The "use of the BeLPT for medical screening is not recommended," stated a company representative, responding by fax to questions posed by Wired News. The company said the test "is highly variable and unreliable," citing U.S. military studies recommending that the blood test be used only after individuals develop symptoms of the disease.

Brush Wellman said workers might not want to be screened because a positive test has negative side effects. Workers who test positive have "perceived decreased health and reduction in work/employment options with potentially adverse social and economic consequences." The company does not reassign workers who test positive to prevent further exposure to beryllium because "There are no studies that suggest that individuals who have tested positive for beryllium sensitization are impacted by additional workplace exposure."

While the Department of Energy offers free screenings for any employee or contractor who worked at its facilities that processed beryllium, workers in the private sector may have to fend for themselves. A class-action lawsuit against Brush Wellman requests that the company pay for the blood tests for up to 7,000 contractors who worked at the company's Elmore, Ohio, facility from 1953 to 1999.

Attorney Andrew Lipton, who represents the plaintiffs -- who include iron workers, construction workers and pipe fitters -- said, "The workers had no idea of their risk." He added they are seeking free screening and medical monitoring. Lipton said the complaint does not ask for punitive damages; the workers only want to know if they have developed sensitivity to beryllium that could affect them later on.