Brady is using the technologies of Raman spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance and X-ray crystallography to conduct his studies. There are plans for future work with infrared spectroscopy.

Brady’s initial results include the surprising finding that beryllium does not lose it’s solid structure when in solution. It had been theorized that, much like mercury, another metal that is toxic to humans, the structure of beryllium would change in water solution, thus making it more bio-available. ‘This is not the case with beryllium,” said Brady. “The solution and solid structures are about the same; it maintains its form and doesn’t break down under certain conditions.”

“It’s clear that beryllium-cellular transport is not a straightforward process. So we’re hoping that by keeping the molecules simple and using a variety of investigative technologies we can learn the beryllium carboxylate behavior, draw conclusions about beryllium’s behavior in vivo and then supply that data to the biologists who will work to develop protocols that one day could prevent or better treat CBD,” said Brady.

So far Brady has seen specific changes in the spectrum of beryllium in solution under Raman spectroscopy, which he theorizes could lead to better and faster detection methods. “A spin-off of this work could be the development of better detection technologies, which currently consist of swipes and chemical analyses, “ he said.

In the future, Brady hopes to work with more complicated tri-carboxylates and organo-phosphates to understand the functions of the body in relation to beryllium exposure. “We want to take a fundamental look at how beryllium behaves, how it gets to the lungs and how the dose is administered across cell membranes.”

The Beryllium Health and Safety Committee (BHSC) is comprised of medical and operations personnel involved with beryllium processing issues across the Department of Energy complex. The BHSC is committed to the accumulation and dissemination of information concerning beryllium processes best work practices, as well as data from health studies concerning the hazards associated with beryllium

Beryllium Levels - in Colorado -
All Sample Types

Vauquelin discovered beryllium in 1797 as a constituent of the mineral beryl. Aquamarine and emerald are the most popular varieties of this mineral. In the French language the element is referred to as glucinium. This name is derived from the sweetish taste of many of its compounds.

The first metallic beryllium was produced by Wohler and Bussy in 1828. They obtained beryllium in the form of an impure powder by reducing beryllium chloride with metallic potassium.

Of particular interest is the work of the French scientist Lebeau, published in 1899, which includes descriptions of the electrolysis of sodium-beryllium fluoride resulting in the production of small, hexagonal beryllium crystals, and the preparation of beryllium-copper alloys by direct reduction of beryllium oxide with carbon in the presence of copper. Also of interest is the work by the German scientist Oesterheld who, in 1916, published the equilibrium diagrams of beryllium with copper, aluminum, silver and iron.

1955 - construction of Beryllium metal cast production started

1973 - Beryllium under pressure processing site commissioned
(Building 602)

1990 - accident at the Beryllium production (Building 662). Full
conservation of the Beryllium production started

2000 - Beryllium metal production started-up
Quality assurance system at the Beryllium production was
certified in accordance with ISO-9002

2001 - Hydrometallurgy production for technical grade (BeOH)2 restored
Creation of Beryllium Copper production.

Minimum influence on the environment is the feature of the production activities of the "Ulba Metallurgical Plant" JSC. Apparatus available at the basic processes allow the maximum extraction of Uranium, Beryllium, Tantalum and Niobium and the limitation of their intrusion into the environment. High extent of noxious substances utilization within the production process is one of the achievements of design and process staff of "Ulba Metallurgical Plant" JSC.

The use of the advanced process, state-of-the-art equipment and automated control systems allows to monitor the production processes and when necessary to correct the automatic performance avoiding the contact of the person with the product.

Off-dust and off-gas mixtures formed during the production cycles are cleaned out in the special multiple duplicate dust and gas cleaning facilities. They are based on the use of Petrianov's fabrics. Noxious substances exhausted into the atmosphere are significantly less than the allowable standards and they do not practically have any negative influence on the environment.