|
The government should immediately lower
workers' exposure to beryllium, Public
Citizen and the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical &
Energy Workers International Union (PACE) in a petition filed
with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),
because the metal, commonly used in the manufacture of sporting
goods, dental equipment and airplane parts, is directly
linked to a fatal lung disease.
In their petition, Public
Citizen and PACE asked John Henshaw, assistant secretary
of labor for OSHA, to reduce the "permissible exposure
limit" (PEL) for beryllium and beryllium compounds from
the current standard of 2.0 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3)
to 0.2 ug/m3.
The current exposure limit is more than
five decades old, and while OSHA has admitted that it
is so high as to endanger workers, the agency has
not acted to lower it. The previous head of OSHA, Charles
Jeffress, stated in 1999 that the "permissible exposure
limits for beryllium in the workplace now appear to be too
high to prevent chronic beryllium disease."
In addition to lowering the PEL, Public
Citizen is asking for annual blood testing of all workers
exposed to beryllium so that they can be removed from further
exposure if necessary.
One recent study showed that almost
10
percent of workers had developed an allergic-like reaction
to beryllium (called "sensitization")
and 5 to 6 percent had chronic lung disease, both at exposures
just 15 percent of the current OSHA standard.
Several workers developed chronic disease
within three months of employment. A copy of Public Citizen's
petition can be found at:
http://www.citizen.org/hrg/publications/1589.htm
"OSHA's failure to adopt a standard
that will protect workers from unnecessary beryllium exposure
is unconscionable," said Dr. Peter Lurie, deputy director
of Public Citizen's Health Research Group and a co-signer
of Public Citizen's petition.
"Every day the agency ignores
this issue, tens of thousands of workers are needlessly exposed
to this life-threatening hazard." Beryllium is used by
a variety of industries, most commonly as an alloy with other
metals. Adding 2 percent beryllium to copper increases the
strength of the alloy sixfold.
The metal also is extremely light and
corrosion-resistant. Potentially hazardous exposure to beryllium
can occur even when workers manufacturing products containing
beryllium or beryllium compounds inhale only minuscule amounts
of beryllium fumes or dust.
Following exposure, some workers become
sensitized, which can be detected in a blood test. Each year
10 to 19 percent of sensitized people develop a lung condition
known as chronic beryllium
disease (CBD). The symptoms include weakness, fatigue,
and respiratory and heart failure.
As many as 30 percent of sensitized workers
die from CBD or its complications. In addition, a recent study
published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine confirmed
the connection between beryllium exposure and lung cancer.
Within the U.S. government, there is precedent
for lowering beryllium concentrations. In January 2000, the
Department of Energy (DOE) required the agency and its contractors
to establish programs that reduce beryllium exposure to the
level Public Citizen is asking for because workers had developed
CBD at levels less than the OSHA standard.
"How ironic that OSHA, whose sole
purpose is to protect the health of workers, has dropped the
ball on the beryllium standard, while the DOE does a better
job of protecting its workers from this dangerous exposure,"
said Lurie.
The current beryllium standard was adopted
in 1949 by the Atomic Energy Commission to prevent a more
severe disease caused by acute beryllium exposure, and that
standard was adopted for all workers in 1970 with the passing
of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Despite overwhelming evidence that increased
protections against beryllium exposure are necessary,
OSHA, which failed to propose a single new chemical standard
during the Clinton administration, has failed to upgrade its
standard.
Although a 1977 report by a research arm
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended
that OSHA reduce the exposure rate for beryllium to 0.5 ug/m3,
and the industrial hygienists' national association recommended
a level of 0.2 ug/m3 in 1998, OSHA has not yet issued a new
standard, despite numerous promises to do so.
"The current beryllium standard is
ridiculously outdated and has done little to prevent CBD,"
said Dave Ortlieb, director of PACE's Health and Safety Department.
"American workers should not have to spend another Labor
Day worrying whether they will contract a fatal disease that
the government should be preventing."
Added Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public
Citizen's Health Research Group, "The time for excuses
is over. OSHA has failed in the past eight years to do its
job of protecting American workers from occupational hazards.
The dangers represented by beryllium give the agency a chance
to chart a new course."
Public
Citizen September 3, 2001
Beryllium was discovered in 1798, but
it was not widely used in industry until the 1940s and 1950s.
In industrial applications beryllium can be:
- used as pure metal
- mixed with other metals to form alloys
- processed to salts that dissolve in
water
- processed to form oxides and ceramic
materials
Beryllium-Containing Minerals Are Found
in Rocks, Coal and Oil, Soil, and Volcanic Dust
From these sources, beryllium is emitted
into the air and water by natural processes like erosion and
by the burning of coal and oil. According to data
collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the
average concentration of airborne beryllium in the United
States is very small (0.03 nanogram/cubic meter-a nanogram
is one-billionth of a gram).
Many Products
and Processes Use Beryllium's Properties
Beryllium metal has been produced for
various industrial uses since the late 1950s.
Both structural and instrument grade materials
are manufactured, especially for use in aerospace and defense:
- Windshield frames and other structures
in high-speed aircraft and space vehicles
- Aircraft and space shuttle brakes
- Satellite mirrors and space telescopes
- Inertial guidance systems and gyroscopes
- Neutron moderator or reflector in nuclear
reactors
- X-ray windows
- Nuclear weapons components
Other Beryllium
Materials Include Soluble Salts, Alloys, and Oxide
Soluble salts, such as beryllium fluoride,
chloride, and sulfate, are used in nuclear reactors, in glass
manufacture, and as catalysts for certain chemical reactions.
Beryllium-copper (BeCu) alloys usually
contain about 2 percent beryllium, but vary greatly in composition
to meet different industrial and consumer needs. Beryllium
contributes hardness, strength, high electrical and thermal
conductivity, and resistance to corrosion, wear, and fatigue.
For example, BeCu springs "bounce back" to their
original shape again and again.
Be alloys are used for:
- Springs, switches, relays, and connectors
in automobiles, computers, radar and telecommunications
equipment, and other instruments
- High-strength nonsparking tools including
some tools sold for use in the home
- Molds or casts to make metal, glass,
and plastic items
- Sports equipment such as golf clubs
and bicycle frames
- Dental bridges and related applications
- Beryllium is also added to aluminum,
nickel, zinc, and zirconium for some applications. Beryllium-nickel
alloys are used in automobile air bags. A relatively new
beryllium-aluminum alloy (the registered trademark is "Beralcast")
is being used in fighter planes, helicopters, and missile
systems.
Despite its
Usefulness, Beryllium Is Not an Ideal Material
It is expensive and too brittle to work
with in some applications.
The most significant
disadvantage of beryllium as an industrial material is the
toxicity of its dust, fumes, and soluble salts.
Beryllium's brittleness is the down side
of its advantageous stiffness. Brittleness also increases
the hazards associated with beryllium's toxicity.
Unless ventilation and other controls
are used, small particles and chips of insoluble beryllium-containing
materials break off during machining and other processes and
spread through the air in the work area. Inhalation of these
tiny particles is the type of exposure that can lead to chronic
beryllium disease.
Beryllium is also used in consumer products,
such as televisions, calculators, and personal computers,
and in the coating on the inside of fluorescent lights.
Beryllium may also enter the aquatic environment
through the weathering of rocks and soils, and through discharges
from industrial and municipal operations. Because beryllium
tends to exist in solution at pH levels less than about 5.5
(and most rainwater has a pH less than 5), it will also enter
into solution and be transported to the Earth's surface via
rainwater (Acid Rain).
Beryllium is highly soluble in water,
and more toxic in soft water than in hard water.
Beryllium is highly persistent in water
with a half-life of greater than 200 days. (The half-life
of a pollutant is the amount of time it takes for one-half
of the chemical to be degraded.)
Exposure
The general
population is potentially exposed to beryllium by inhaling
air and consuming food and water contaminated with beryllium
residues.
Exposure occurs mainly through the release
of beryllium into the atmosphere from the burning of coal.
From 10 to 20 million pounds/yr of beryllium
may be emitted from coal burning and refuse incineration globally.
Beryllium concentrations in US coal ranges from 1.46 to 1.52
mg/kg.
In the United States, more than 80% of
the beryllium emissions originate from coal-fired vessels.
Approximately 721,000 persons living within 12.5 miles of
point sources were thus possibly exposed in daily (1986) to
small amounts of beryllium through inhalation.
In 1987, total daily intake values for
beryllium in the general population were estimated by the
EPA to be 1.6 microgram /day in air, 120 microgram in food,
and 285 microgram in water. In addition, a smoker of one pack
of cigarettes/day could inhale up to 700 microgram of beryllium,
depending on the type of tobacco used.
However, considering ACTUAL beryllium
concentrations in food and water, intake must be presumed
to be much higher:
Beryllium Concentrations In Food:
0.08 mg/kg in polished rice 0.12 mg/kg
in toasted bread, 0.17 mg/kg in potatoes, 0.24 mg/kg in
tomatoes, and 0.33 mg/kg in head lettuce. 0.01 mg/kg in
beans 0.05 mg/kg in cabbage 0.01 mg/kg in hen eggs (yolk)
0.02 mg/kg in milk 0.12 mg/kg in mushrooms 0.01 to 0.47
mg/kg in nuts
Considering that the Maximum Contaminat
Level (MCL) for beryllium is set at 0.004mg/l, this is very
disturbing. If the levels of beryllium exceed the MCL consistently,
the system must notify the public via newspapers, radio, TV
and other means.
Additional actions, such as providing
alternative drinking water
supplies, may be required to prevent serious risks
to public health. Nobody is watching the food supply, or issuing
similar warnings when levels exceed the known limits of potential
toxicity!
Small amounts of Beryllium are also ingested
by all people who consume "Colloid Minerals" on
a daily basis.
Beryllium
Is a Significant Workplace Health Hazard
Exposure to beryllium particles can cause
a serious illness in certain people. This illness is chronic
beryllium disease, or CBD-an irreversible and sometimes fatal
scarring of the lungs.
Medical studies show that even small amounts
of beryllium particles of a size that can be breathed deeply
into the lungs may trigger an allergy-like sensitivity in
2-5 percent of people exposed.
About 1 to 3 percent of all people exposed
to beryllium develop CBD. In studies of people in certain
occupations where historically exposure to beryllium was greatest
(for example, studies of machinists in beryllium operations),
this number rises to as many as 10 to 14 percent.
There is currently no
widely available test to find out who is sensitive to beryllium
before exposure occurs.
More than 100 current and former employees
of Department of Energy (DOE) sites have CBD. The percentage
of people who were exposed and became ill is much larger than
similar percentages known for other DOE workplace health hazards.
CBD is seen only in individuals who have
experienced some exposure to beryllium particles, dust, or
fumes.
Chronic Beryllium Disease:
A Long-Term Health Effect
Long-term, or chronic, health effects
can take years to develop after the first exposure to beryllium
and can affect people who were exposed to very small amounts
of beryllium. In some cases, CBD has been diagnosed in former
office workers and others who had only brief, incidental exposure
to beryllium.
CBD is primarily
a lung disease, but it may also
affect other organs, particularly the lymph nodes, skin, spleen,
liver, kidneys, and heart.
CBD is seen in individuals who are sensitized
to beryllium.
CBD occurs in individuals who have become
"allergic" or sensitized to beryllium upon exposure.
Although current DOE medical surveillance programs are identifying
more people who are only sensitized and not sick with CBD,
many individuals already have CBD by the time they are evaluated
for beryllium sensitization or lung symptoms.
CBD can take
many years to develop.
The average time from first beryllium
exposure to the development of symptoms (latency period) of
CBD is 10 to 15 years. This means you can be exposed to beryllium
today and not suffer any health effects for decades. Health
effects have appeared in some people a few months after exposure,
but not for as long as 30 years in others.
Doctors and researchers believe that some
individuals who have had CBD lived with the disease and died
from other causes without even knowing they had CBD.
CBD symptoms resemble those of other lung
diseases.
The symptoms of CBD are very similar to
those of several other diseases, particularly a disease called
sarcoidosis that affects the lungs and sometimes other organs.
Studies have found that in some cases doctors have diagnosed
what turned out to be CBD as sarcoidosis or another disease.
Symptoms of CBD may include the following:
1. Persistent coughing
2. Shortness of breath with physical exertion
3. Fatigue
4. Chest and joint pain
5. Blood in the sputum (sputum is saliva, mucus, and other
discharges that can be "coughed up" from the respiratory
system)
6. Rapid heart rate
7. Loss of appetite
8. Fevers and night sweats
CBD is treatable,
but not curable.
If loss of lung function is detected,
treatment may involve taking corticosteroids (often just called
"steroids"), a medicine that reduces inflammation.
The most common type of corticosteroid prescribed for CBD
is prednisone.
If successful, treatment with steroids
can slow the progress of CBD by reducing the buildup of scar
tissue and delaying permanent lung damage.
However, many individuals do not respond
well to treatment. Others cannot tolerate the side effects
of long-term steroid treatment.
Side effects of taking steroids for long
periods of time can include slower healing of infections,
calcium loss from the bones, higher blood cholesterol, and
fluid and salt retention which can make heart or kidney disease
worse. The right treatment for an individual must be considered
in light of that person's overall health and medical history.
Individuals with insufficient levels of
oxygen in their blood as a result of CBD may also need supplemental
oxygen to help improve oxygen delivery to the body and to
protect the heart from the damage that can be done by low
oxygen levels.
Individuals who cannot take steroids may
continue to lose lung function. As a result they are likely
to experience poorer quality of life, becoming invalids in
some cases. Their life span may also be shorter.
Although the use of corticosteroids is
the standard treatment for CBD, research is in progress on
other drugs that may reduce the need for high doses of corticosteroids.
On the other hand, some individuals with
diagnosed CBD may never become sick enough to require treatment.
http://tis.eh.doe.gov/be/webdoc1.html-ss
| 