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New Beryllium Reference Material for Occupational Safety Monitoring

(28.09.2009)


Background:
The use of beryllium in manufacturing dates back to the advent of the atomic age. One of the scientists involved with the famous Chicago experiment known as Chicago Pile-1 to create the first artificial self-sustaining nuclear reaction in 1942 died of berylliosis in 1988. Aside from the nuclear industry, the unique properties of beryllium make it valuable in the manufacture of aircraft and supercolliders.

Beryllium dust can cause a condition characterized by chronic skin and/or respiratory inflammation resembling pneumonia in susceptible individuals and can increase the risk of lung cancers with long periods of exposure. Treating the particles as a threat, the body's immune system floods the affected area with white blood cells. The cells surround the beryllium particles and harden to form inflamed tissue nodules called granulomas. These granulomas can lodge under the skin or in lung tissue where they cause difficulty breathing and a host of other symptoms including fatigue, weight loss and muscle pain. The condition, although treatable, is incurable.

According to NIST scientist Winchester, previous analytical tests for exposure monitoring relied on an easily dissolved form of beryllium that was not representative of what people would be exposed to in the field.

The new material:
The new Standard Reference Material, Beryllium Oxide Powder (SRM 1877), consists of high-fired crystalline beryllium oxide that has been thoroughly characterized physically and chemically. The particles that make up the powder have an average diameter of about 200 nanometers and have been separated into aggregated clusters that will pass through a 20 mesh screen. NIST scientists Greg Turk and Mike Winchester used a high performance inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry technique developed at NIST to certify the mass fraction (the ratio of pure beryllium in the beryllium oxide) in the compound. NIST provided its partners with support to perform the preparations and did the final analysis of the solutions when they were completed.

The new SRM mimics the form of beryllium to which workers would be exposed much more closely and should facilitate much more representative and informative toxicological studies, more sensitive monitoring and more effective cleanup of contaminated areas.

Source: Adapted from NIST


Related Information

NIST: Material Details: SRM 1877 - Beryllium Oxide Powder

Related EVISA Resources

Link Database: Toxicity of Beryllium and its compounds
Link Database: Industrial use of beryllium
Link Database: Occupational exposure to beryllium
Link Database: Analytical methods for the determination of Beryllium
Material Database: Materials certified for beryllium content
Link page: All about CRMs


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February 1, 2012: LGC Standards strengthens European central warehouse for reference materials
May 3, 2011: New reference materials for the characterisation of selenium-enriched food products
March 20, 2011: Stability of Reference Materials for Speciation Analysis
November 23, 2010: New certified reference material supporting mercury speciation analysis of blood
September 28, 2009: New Beryllium Reference Material for Occupational Safety Monitoring
September 10, 2009: Speciation Analysis - Striving for Quality
February 3, 2009: New Reference Material for Hexavalent Chromium in Contaminated Soil
November 15, 2005: NIST/EPA/NJ DEP embark on the preparation of a soil reference materials for chromium speciation
August 2, 2005: New CRM for Selenomethionine in yeast developed by NRC Canada is now on the market
May 6, 2004: Reference materials producers launch new European initiative


last time modified: June 29, 2020




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