What is Beryllium?

(Pronounced ber-il' le-um) - Beryllium was discovered in 1797 by Vauquelin in Paris. Pure beryllium is a hard grayish metal. In nature, beryllium can be found in compounds in mineral rocks, coal, soil, and volcanic dust. Two kinds of mineral rocks, bertrandite and beryl, are mined commercially for the recovery of beryllium. Very pure gem quality beryl is better known as either aquamarine (blue or blue-green) or emerald (green). Beryllium is present in a variety of compounds.

Beryllium and beryllium alloys are used in electronics components, fiber optics components, nuclear weapons, nuclear reactors, aircraft-satellite-space vehicle structures, X-ray transmission windows, mirrors, ceramics, bicycle frames, golf club heads, and as an additive in solid propellant rocket fuels.

U.S. companies have produced beryllium and some beryllium compounds commercially since the 1940s and beryllium oxide since 1958.

* Web Sources for Beryllium and other Elements

o What is Beryllium? - US Department of Energy Beryllium Worker Protection Web Site.

o Communicating Beryllium Health Risks Training Materials

Participant Manual 1968 k

Facilitator Manual 11810 k

o Web Elements from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. Properties of Beryllium including General, Chemical, Physical, Nuclear, Electronic, Biological, Geological, Crystallographic Reduction potentials, Isotope abundances, Electronic configurations, and Ionization enthalpies.

o Brookhaven National Laboratory - National Nuclear Data Center. Properties of the various isotopes of beryllium. Nuclear wallet cards for beryllium.

o Beryllium (Be) Chemical Backgrounder from the Environmental Health Center - A Division of the National Safety Council

o Properties of Beryllium from the Chemicool Periodic Table

o Minerals Containing Beryllium from the Amethyst Galleries

Chrysoberyl