Extreme care must be taken to avoid breathing or ingesting even very small amounts.

Specially designed exhaust hoods are used by persons working with beryllium oxide.

Beryllium and its oxide are being utilized more and more in industry.

Besides its importance in aircraft and X-ray tubes, beryllium is used in computers, lasers, televisions, oceanographic instruments, and personal body armor.

WHAT IS BERYLLIUM?
Beryllium is a lightweight strong, steel-grey metal. Its
oxide, beryllia, is a hard, white ceramic. Copperberyllium
alloys are 98% copper containing up to 2%
beryllium.

WHERE IS IT FOUND?
Beryllium is used in industry in three main forms: as

beryllium metal, as beryllium alloys (often copperberyllium

HOW CAN IT GET INTO YOUR BODY?
The most important problem is breathing it in. But it
can also get into your body by:
• skin or eye contact with soluble salts of beryllium
or as swarf from metal or alloy;
• eating, drinking or smoking in areas where
beryllium soluble salts are used.
Large pieces of beryllium or beryllium alloys (for
example in electronic components) are unlikely to
cause any ill-health effects. However, beryllium can get
into your body, as dust, fume or as soluble salts and in
such cases could damage your health.

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH HAZARDS?
Single exposures to beryllium and its compounds can
cause:
• inflammation of the lungs, if the exposure is high;
• eye inflammation from splashes;
• skin disease (dermatitis and sensitisation) from
soluble salts;
• corn-like lesions if swarf gets into the skin and is
not removed

Repeated exposure to beryllium and its compounds
can cause long-term lung disease. This develops
gradually after a period, which can be anything from a
few weeks to many years, during which there may be
no symptoms of illness. In severe cases the lungs are
so badly damaged that the illness can be fatal. There is
also concern from studies in animals that beryllium
may cause cancer. This has not been proved to occur
in humans, but employers are required to handle
beryllium and its compounds as if they did cause
cancer.

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health
(COSHH) Regulations 2002 require your employer to:
• assess the risks to your health and the precautions
needed for your protection;
• prevent you being exposed to beryllium and its
compounds or, where this can not reasonably be
done, adequately control your exposure;
• reduce your exposure to airborne beryllium so far
as is reasonably practicable and, in any case, below
the maximum exposure limit (MEL) assigned for
beryllium and its compounds of 0.002 milligrams
per cubic metre of air, averaged over an 8-hour
period;
• maintain all fume and dust controls in efficient
working order;
• find out how much beryllium you are exposed to,
normally by means of a monitoring programme;
• arrange any health checks that are necessary;
• inform, instruct and train all employees who may
be exposed to beryllium.

The COSHH ACOP (ISBN 0 7176 2534 6) also applies to
beryllium and its compounds. It gives more practical
guidance about how the COSHH Regulations apply to
substances, like beryllium, which may cause cancer.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
• Avoid breathing in dust or fumes.
• Avoid skin contact and splashes in the eyes.
• Use the extraction equipment or other control
measures correctly.
• Report any defects in enclosures, extraction
equipment or other control measures to your
employers.
• Use the protective clothing and equipment
provided.
• Use the washing facilities provided.
• If you have to wear a respirator or face-mask, make
sure:
- it fits properly - and tell your employers if it
doesn’t;
- it has been cleaned before you start work each
day;
- the filter has been changed when necessary;
- you have been trained how to use it.
• Do not eat, drink or smoke in beryllium work areas.

WHAT ABOUT HEALTH CHECKS?
• People working in certain beryllium processes
where significant exposures could occur (for
example, grinding or melting metallic beryllium and
its alloys or handling powders and soluble salts), will
need initial and regular health checks.
• You should co-operate with your employers or
works doctor in these health checks.
• The initial health check aims to pick out people who
have a medical condition which will be made worse
by exposure to beryllium or its compounds.
• At the regular checks, you should report any
breathing difficulties, skin complaints, or other
health problems which you think might be related to
your work.

Beryllium: beryllium alloys are used mostly in applications in aerospace, automobiles, computers, oil and gas drilling equipment, and telecommunications. Beryllium salts are used in fluorescent lamps, in X-ray tubes and as a deoxidizer in bronze metallurgy. Beryl is the source of the gem stones emerald and aquamarine. Sample in photo contains 14 percent beryllium oxide.