Beryllium is a lightweight metal that is used for its exceptional strength and high heat-absorbing capability. Beryllium and its alloys can be found in many important technologies in the defense and aeronautics industries, such as nuclear devices, satellite systems, radar systems, and aircraft bushings and bearings.

Pulmonary disease associated with exposure to beryllium has been recognized and studied since the early 1940s, and an occupational guideline for limiting exposure to beryllium has been in place since 1949. Over the last few decades, much has been learned about chronic beryllium disease and factors that contribute to its occurrence in exposed people. Despite reduced workplace exposure, chronic beryllium disease continues to occur. Those developments have led to debates about the adequacy of the long-standing occupational exposure limit for protecting worker health.

This book, requested by the U.S. Air Force to help to determine the steps necessary to protect its workforce from the effects of beryllium used in military aerospace applications, reviews the scientific literature on beryllium and outlines an exposure and disease management program for its protecting workers.

Contents

• THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
• COMMITTEE ON BERYLLIUM ALLOY EXPOSURES
• COMMITTEE ON TOXICOLOGY
• BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY
• OTHER REPORTS OF THE BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY
• OTHER REPORTS OF THE COMMITTEE ON TOXICOLOGY
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Summary
  • BERYLLIUM SENSITIZATION AND CHRONIC BERYLLIUM DISEASE
  • BERYLLIUM LYMPHOCYTE PROLIFERATION TEST
  • CANCER
• 1. Introduction
  • HISTORICAL REVIEW OF OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE LIMITS
  • OTHER EXPOSURE GUIDELINES
  • COMMITTEE’S TASKS
  • COMMITTEE’S APPROACH
  • ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT
• 2. Exposure Assessment
  • SOURCES AND USES
  • TOXICOKINETICS
  • REVIEW OF EXPOSURE DATA
  • REVIEW OF SAMPLING AND ANALYTIC METHODS
  • EXPOSURE METRICS
  • CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
• 3. Epidemiologic and Clinical Studies of Beryllium Sensitization and Chronic Beryllium Disease
  • EPIDEMIOLOGIC LITERATURE
  • CLINICAL LITERATURE
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • RECOMMENDATIONS
• 4. Mechanisms, Genetic Factors, and Animal Models of Chronic Beryllium Disease
  • PATHOGENESIS AND MECHANISMS OF ACTION
  • GENETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY
  • ANIMAL MODELS OF PULMONARY IMMUNOTOXICITY AND SENSITIZATION
  • CONCLUSIONS
• 5. Genotoxicity and Carcinogenicity
  • GENOTOXICITY
  • CARCINOGENICITY
  • CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
• 6. Assessment of Other Health End Points
  • REPRODUCTIVE AND DEVELOPMENTAL EFFECTS
  • OTHER EFFECTS
  • SUMMARY
• 7. Designing a Beryllium Exposure- and Disease-Management Program for Workers in the Air Force
  • EXISTING MEDICAL SCREENING OR SURVEILLANCE PRACTICES
  • CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE AIR FORCE
  • SPECIFICS OF THE MEDICAL SCREENING PROGRAM
• References
• Appendix A Biographic Information on the Committee on Beryllium Alloy Exposures
• Appendix B Air Force Beryllium Program Clinical Decision Logic

This project was supported by Contract W81K04-06-D-0023 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Defense. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.