Beryllium exposure and pulmonary function: a cross sectional study of beryllium workers.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Eisen EA ; Feldman HA ; Greaves IA ; Greene RE ; Kriebel D ; Sprince NL
• Description:
  A possible association between long term beryllium (7440417) exposure and decreasing pulmonary function and interstitial changes observed on chest radiographs was examined using medical monitoring data and historical industrial hygiene survey reports available at a large beryllium extraction and manufacturing facility. The group studied consisted of 297 white males (average age 43 years) who had worked an average of 17 years at the facility; approximately half were current smokers. The majority of chest radiographs were normal with only 28 subjects showing small or irregular opacities. Exposure response modeling showed that both forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in 1 second were strongly associated with exposures in the distant past (more than 20 years before the survey) and weakly associated with recent exposures. A positive association was observed between alveolar/arterial oxygen gradient and recent exposure but not with past exposures. A weak association between radiographic abnormalities and recent exposure was also observed. The authors conclude that the findings support the theory that exposure to beryllium has both long and short term effects on lung parenchyma and the airways. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Beryllium Lung Diseases Metal Workers Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  Beryllium-compounds Chronic-exposure Long-term-study Lung-disorders Metal-workers NIOSH-Grant NIOSH-Publication Pulmonary-system-disorders
• ISSN:
  0007-1072
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  167-173
• Volume:
  45
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00178826
• Citation:
  Br J Ind Med 1988 Mar; 45(3):167-173
• Contact Point Address:
  Environmental Sci & Physiology Harvard School of Public Hlth 665 Huntington Ave Boston, Mass 02115
• CAS Registry Number:
  Beryllium (CAS RN 7440-41-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• NORA Priority Area:
  Pulmonary System Disorders
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19830701
• Source Full Name:
  British Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  19860731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a5d38357266256bd9afcb3e138cf7c99dc8c5f32a56f550683d9b3493430e714e5e1af2a05a88252efeb716be290b8c9e490d0f482b6e0132d9f2cf1f6960446
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/185499/cdc_185499_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.07 MB ]