This article presents air and surface sampling data collected over the first two years since beryllium was introduced as a target material at the National Ignition Facility. Over this time, 101 experiments with beryllium-containing targets were executed. The data provides an assessment of current conditions in the facility and a baseline for future impacts as new, reduced regulatory limits for ...

This report considers the historical origin of the current beryllium occupational exposure limit (OEL) and the evidence that led most authorities to conclude that it was adequately protective against clinically evident chronic beryllium disease (CBD). Nearly 40 years later, during the late 1980s, it was shown that in addition to CBD, beryllium can cause asymptomatic sensitization and asymptomat...

Beryllium is widely used in industry for its unique properties; however, occupational exposure to beryllium particles can cause potentially fatal disease. Consequently, exposure limits for beryllium particles in air and action levels on surfaces have been established to reduce exposure risks for workers. Field-portable monitoring methods for beryllium are desired in order to facilitate on-site ...

Beryllium is an extremely lightweight metal that occurs naturally in rocks, coal, soil, and volcanic dust. Commercially, bertrandite and beryl ore are mined for the recovery of beryllium. Because beryllium is one of the lightest metal and is very rigid, it has many uses in the electronics, aerospace, and defense industries. Beryllium is released into the atmosphere by windblown dust, volcanic p...

OBJECTIVES Gemstone cutters are potentially exposed to various carcinogenic and fibrogenic metals such as chromium, nickel, aluminium, and beryllium, as well as to lead. Increased beryllium concentrations had been reported in the air of workplaces of beryl cutters in Idar-Oberstein, Germany. The aim of the survey was to study the excretion of beryllium in cutters and grinders with occupational ...

The value of the beryllium macrophage migration inhibition (Be MIF) and Mantoux tests in the diagnosis of chronic beryllium disease and in the detection of hypersensitivity in healthy beryllium workers is demonstrated. In the absence of steroid treatment the Be MIF test is positive in chronic beryllium disease patients. Seven of 50 (14%) helathy beryllium workers were Be MIF positive, while all...

In contrast to naive T cells, reactivation of memory cells is less dependent on CD28-mediated costimulation. We have shown that circulating beryllium-specific CD4(+) T cells from chronic beryllium disease patients remain CD28-dependent, while those present in the lung no longer require CD28 for T cell activation. In the present study, we analyzed whether other costimulatory molecules are essent...

Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells from patients with chronic beryllium disease (CBD) have been used to evaluate the beryllium-specific immune response and potential immunotherapeutics. Beryllium induces interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin-2 (IL-2), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) from BAL cells. An antibody to IL-2 and recombinant...

In ITER mixed Be/W layers are likely to form and their retention behavior is unknown. A series of ITER-grade tungsten samples have been exposed in PISCES-B to deuterium plasma at 300oC, with and without beryllium impurity seeding of the plasma. If the beryllium concentration is small, the majority of the incident beryllium is re-eroded from the sample surface and only a few nm thick layer of mi...