What e the symptoms of berylliosis (beryllium disease)?
Symptoms of beryllium disease may include cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, weight loss and/or loss of appetite, fevers and night sweats. There are some additional signs that may be noticed by your primary care physician which include abnormal lung sounds, many small lung scars on a chest X-ray, abnormal breathing tests, allergy to beryllium, and granuloma on lung or skin tissue. Beryllium sensitization often leads to disease, even in people who are no longer working with beryllium. Most people with beryllium sensitization have granuloma scars in their lungs, and sometimes in other organs also. In some people, the disease progresses very slowly over many years. In others it may progress more quickly. The onset of symptoms after the first beryllium exposure can vary greatly. The time between first exposure to beryllium and the onset of symptoms can vary from a few months to forty years. Once a person has been exposed to beryllium, there is a lifelong risk of developing the disease.
