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Beryllium is an alkali earth metal, reasonably stable in air, and extremely toxic in powdered form. It's used as an alloying element for copper, imparting great strength and springiness to the metal. Added to aluminum it makes light, strong, stiff alloys used in race cars and in aerospace applications. Solid lumps of beryllium left alone are not dangerous as such: It's not going to rub off and go through your skin, but because of its toxicity, care is needed when machining beryllium or its alloys.
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