Originally Posted By bmick325 We had a jackass put beryllium axe on a grinding wheel once. Wasn't sharp enough for him. |
Holy crap.
He must be the most useful guy in the shop, now that he's grown two extra arms.
The warnings about beryllium are many and frightening. Thou Shalt Not finely divide it!
BERYLLIUM
SM Bradberry BSc MB MRCP
ST Beer BSc
JA Vale MD FRCP FRCPE FRCPG FFOM
National Poisons Information Service
(Birmingham Centre),
West Midlands Poisons Unit,
City Hospital NHS Trust,
Dudley Road,
Birmingham
B18 7QH
This monograph has been produced by staff of a National Poisons
Information Service Centre in the United Kingdom. The work was
commissioned and funded by the UK Departments of Health, and was
designed as a source of detailed information for use by poisons
information centres.
Peer review group: Directors of the UK National Poisons Information
Service.
BERYLLIUM
Toxbase summary
Type of product
Used in nuclear reactors, electrical insulators and resistors, spark
plugs, microwave tubes, the aerospace industry, photographic equipment
and many tools.
Toxicity
The lung is the main target organ of beryllium toxicity.
Beryllium lung disease is classified as acute or chronic dependant on
the duration of disease rather than the duration of exposure. The
acute illness does not persist beyond one year.
Chronic beryllium disease is a cell-mediated (delayed)
hypersensitivity reaction characterized by granuloma formation and
pulmonary fibrosis which may be fatal.
Features
Topical
- Beryllium compounds may cause contact dermatitis.
- Beryllium ulcers occur where a beryllium crystal penetrates
the skin at a site of previous trauma.
- Beryllium chloride, fluoride, nitrate or sulphate are acute
eye irritants.
Ingestion
- Gastrointestinal beryllium absorption is poor and systemic
toxicity via this route does not occur.
Inhalation
Mild inhalation:
- Metallic taste, cough, breathlessness.
Substantial inhalation:
- Cough, chest pain, metallic taste, exertional
breathlessness, nasopharyngitis, tracheobronchitis,
conjunctivitis, pneumonitis, epistaxis and fever.
- Additional features seen in chronic beryllium disease
include fever, anorexia, arthralgia, nausea, vomiting,
haemoptysis, palpitation, convulsions, renal calculi,
corneal calcification, hepatosplenomegaly (secondary to cor
pulmonale) and systemic granulomas causing lymphadenopathy
and parotid gland enlargement.
- Chest X-ray may show upper zone nodules and fibrosis and
there may be a restrictive ventilatory defect.
Management
Topical
- Skin nodules from subcutaneous implantation of beryllium
metal or its salts are best managed by local excision.
Ingestion
- Beryllium salt ingestion is not a significant toxicological
problem.
1. Management is entirely supportive.
2. Gastrointestinal decontamination is not necessary.
Inhalation
- Most cases are occupational.
1. Occupational hygiene is paramount.
2. If pulmonary toxicity is suspected remove from exposure.
3. Symptoms of acute and chronic beryllium disease respond well to
oral steroids.
4. Experimental studies to assess the value of chelators in
beryllium poisoning are underway, but there are insufficient data
currently to recommend their use in man.Urine beryllium
concentrations allow assessment of beryllium absorption but
chronic beryllium disease is not excluded by a low urine
beryllium concentration.