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Beryl and emeralds (Be3Al2Si6O18) known to the ancients and recognized as identical by Haüy (founder of crystallography). Vauquelin separated the earth (1798), named “glucina” from the sweet taste (now known to be toxic); element isolated in 1828 by Wöhler and Bussy.
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Beryl, Al2Be3Si6O18, crystallizes in hexagonal prisms. Both beryl and emeralds have been known for centuries, but the chemical identity was established only in the late 1700’s. |
With the discovery of the famous Colombian fields in the 1500’s, the quality of emeralds improved. Note that the crystal habit is identical for emerald and beryl — this was the original hint that the two were identical. |
New Beryllium descoveries!
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Beryllium can be milled into light machine components. This is a beryllium rotor for a guided missile. While machining this metal, one must be protected from beryllium dust, which is very poisonous. |
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Beryllium was originally discovered in Siberian emeralds. This sample above, from the Ural Mountains, is embedded in schist. Emerald is a gem form of beryl. |
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Beryllium copper, typically with a composition of 4% beryllium in copper, is the most important of the alloys. This material has excellent spring characteristics and is used in watch springs. It also is used in non-sparking tools, such as hammers used in an explosive or combustible environment.
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BerylliumBeAtomic Number 4
Atomic Weight 9.01 [Gr. beryllos, beryl] Crustal abundance:2.8 ppm = 0.00028% |
History of Beryllium
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Although emeralds and beryl were known to ancient civitizations, they wre first recognized as the same mineral. by Abbe' Hauy in 1798.
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Later that year, Louis-Nicholas Vauquelin, a french chemist, discovered that an unknown element was present in emeralds and beryl.
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Attempts to isolate the new element finally succeeded in 1828 when two chemists, Friedrich Wohler of a Germany and A. Bussy of France independantly produced beryllium by reducing beryllium chloride (BeCl2) France, independantly produced beryllium by reducing beryllium chloride with potassium in a platinum crucible.
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Today , beryllium is primarily obtained from the minerals beryl and bertandite through a chemical process or through the electrolysis of a mixture of molten beryllium chloride and sodium chloride.
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With the advent of in vitro immunologic testing, we can now detect exposed individuals who are sensitized to beryllium and those who have chronic beryllium disease (CBD) with lung pathology and impairment.
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Earlier detection and more accurate diagnostic tools raise new questions about the natural history of sensitization and granulomatous disease.
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Preliminary data suggest that early detection identifies people who are sensitized to beryllium and that these individuals are at risk for progressing into clinical disease.
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This article discusses the historical, recent, and ongoing studies germane to our understanding of CBD natural history, including the immunologic and inflammatory basis of the disease, the environmental and host risk factors for disease progression, biological markers of disease severity and activity that may help predict outcome, and the implications for broad-based workplace screening to identify patients at the earliest stages of beryllium sensitization and disease.
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From the CRC handbook of Chemistry and Physics, CRC Press, Cleveland, 55th ed., 1974-75; "The Elements" by C.R. Hammond, page B-7
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Beryllium (Gr. berryllos, beryl; also called Glucinium or Glucinum, Gr. glykys, sweet;), Be; at. wt. 9.01218; at. no. 4; m.p. 1278 +/- 5 C; b.p. 2970 C; sp. gr. 1.848 (20 C); valence 2. Discovered as the oxide by Vauquelin in beryl and in emeralds in 1798. The metal was isolated in 1828 by Wohler and by Bussy independently by the action of potassium on beryllium chloride.
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Beryllium is found in some 30 mineral species, the most important of which are: beryl, chrysoberyl, and phenacite.
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Aquamarine and emerald are precious forms of beryl. Beryl (3BeO Al2O3 6SiO2) is the most important commercial source of the element and its compounds.
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Most of the metal is now prepared by reducing beryllium fluoride with magnesium metal. Beryllium metal did not become readily available to industry until 1957. The metal, steel gray in color, has many desirable properties.
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It is one of the lightest of all metals, and has one of the highest melting points of the light metals. Its modulus of elasticity is about one-third greater than that of steel. It resists attack by concentrated nitric acid, has excellent thermal conductivity, and is nonmagnetic.
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It has the high permeability to X-rays, and when bombarded by alpha particles, as from radium or polonium, neutrons are produced in the ratio of about 30 neutrons/million alpha particles.
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At ordinary temperatures beryllium resists oxidation in air, although its ability to scratch glass is probably due to the formation of a thin layer of the oxide. Beryllium is used as an alloying agent in producing beryllium copper, which is extensively used for springs, electrical contacts, spot-welding electrodes, and nonsparking tools. It is finding application as a structural material for high-speed aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft. It is used in nuclear reactors as a reflector or moderator for it has a low thermal neutron absorption cross section. It is used in gyroscopes, computer parts, and inertial guidance instruments where lightness, stiffness, and dimensional stability are required.
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The oxide has a very high melting point and is also used in nuclear work and ceramic applications. Beryllium and its salts are toxic and should be handled with the greatest care. Beryllium and its compounds should not be tasted to verify the sweetish nature of beryllium (as did early experimenters). The metal, its alloys, and its salts can be handled safely if certain work codes are observed, but no attempt should be made to work with beryllium before becoming familiar with proper safeguards. The maximum allowable concentration of beryllium dust in an 8-hr. day is recommended to be about 2 u gms./cu. meter in working areas. The average monthly concentration should not exceed 0.01 u gms/cu. meter in non-working areas. Beryllium metal in vacuum cast billet form is priced roughly at $70/lb. Fabricated forms are more expensive.
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Discovered in France in 1798, beryllium wasn't produced commercially in America until the 1930s. When it was, it was extracted from beryl and bertrandite ores and processed through a series of chemical steps.
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Among the first uses of beryllium: fluorescent lights. Workers coated the insides with beryllium-containing phosphors to help make the glass tubes glow.
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At the time, beryllium dust was considered harmless. No one wore respirators, and no one appeared to be getting sick.
Then came World War II. |
Suddenly, the U.S. government needed tons of beryllium for the top secret Manhattan Project, the $2 billion effort to build the world's first atomic bomb.
Beryllium plants signed government contracts and began shipping orders to Manhattan Project sites. To maintain the secrecy of the project, shipments were in unmarked packages, identified only by code names, such as Product 38. "The word 'beryllium' should never be used," one government document warned. |
In 1943, federal officials ran into a problem that threatened supplies: Beryllium workers, many in the Cleveland area, began developing a mysterious illness.
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They were coughing, losing weight, and becoming breathless. Many recovered, but some grew sicker and died.
A Cleveland Clinic doctor concluded in 1943 that beryllium dust was toxic. But the U.S. Public Health Service, in a report that same year, thought some other agent was to blame. As the controversy brewed, the government stepped up its beryllium orders. When the factories couldn't keep up, the government spent millions to expand them. |
By the mid-1940s, dozens of people had become sick, both at Manhattan Project sites and in the fluorescent light industry.
And the mysterious disease was exhibiting a new twist. Researchers studying the fluorescent light industry concluded in 1946 that workers were getting sick months - even years - after their last exposure to beryllium. No one was recovering from this form of the illness, which would become known as chronic beryllium disease. |
By now, most scientists and industry leaders agreed that beryllium dust was toxic.
The government recommended safety improvements and supplied respirators for some workers. But it was also deeply concerned about its image. A 1947 secret report by the newly formed Atomic Energy Commission, or AEC, warned that the disease "might be headlined, particularly in non-friendly papers, for weeks and months - each new case bringing an opportunity for a rehash of the story. This might seriously embarrass the AEC and reduce public confidence in the organization." |
Despite mounting sickness, the AEC remained "acutely interested in maintaining and expanding production of beryllium," according to the report, which was recently declassified.
The agency's mission - building nuclear weapons - depended on it. "The AEC appears to be stuck with beryllium," the report said, "and hence stuck with the public relations problem." |
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