What is beryllium disease?
Beryllium disease is the term used to describe various conditions resulting from exposure to beryllium and its compounds or alloys. These conditions can be grouped into acute beryllium disease and chronic beryllium disease. Depending on how workers are exposed, the diseases can affect different tissues and organs. Breathing in fumes or dusts of beryllium compounds may injure the lungs. Direct contact with beryllium fumes or dusts may injure the exposed areas of the body, such as the eyes or the skin. Beryllium may also affect such organs as the liver, kidneys, heart, nervous system, and the lymphatic system, which carries water, white blood cells and proteins to the blood. What is acute beryllium disease? Acute diseases develop after a short and heavy exposure and usually last for less than one year. Acute beryllium disease may take several forms. Contact dermatitis is an inflammation of the skin, causing itching, redness, rashes, swelling, and blisters. These symptoms appear on the ex
Beryllium-induced lung disease can occur when beryllium dust or fumes are inhaled. There are two types of beryllium disease, acute and chronic: • Acute beryllium disease is very rare today. Current workplace safety regulations prevent the massive quantities of beryllium that cause acute beryllium disease from being released into the air. • Chronic beryllium disease (CBD, berylliosis) is associated with inhaling beryllium powder or fumes (although inhaling beryllium does not always lead to CBD). An exposed person usually gets sensitized to beryllium prior to progressing to CBD. Sensitization is similar to an allergy; when allergic or sensitized, the body reacts negatively to that particular substance. Beryllium sensitivity and CBD can develop soon after exposure or many (30-40) years later. Of those working around beryllium, about 10 percent get sensitized to it and about half of those progress to develop CBD. There is no health threat associated with contact with solid beryllium; howev
