Risk of Beryllium Disease Among Short-Term and Long-Term Workers at a Metal, Oxide, and Alloy Production Plant

Details

• Personal Author:
  Day, Gregory A. ; Deubner, David C. ; Henneberger, Paul K. ; Kreiss, Kathleen ; Schuler, Christine R.
• Description:
  Workers at a beryllium facility producing metal, oxide and alloys were screened for beryllium sensitization and chronic beryllium disease (CBD) in 1993-94. Anew survey was conducted in 1999 to determine whether disease prevalence had changed since the earlier survey. Workers not previously known to have CBD were asked to provide a blood sample for beryllium lymphocyte proliferation testing (BeLPT) and complete a medical & work history questionnaire. Beryllium sensitization was defined as 2 or more abnormal BeLPTs; sensitized workers were offered clinical evaluation for CBD. The workforce was subdivided as follows: long-term workers (LTWs) were screened in 1993-94; short-term workers (STWs) were hired after earlier screening. 731 of 808 eligible workers (90%) participated, including 452 of 502 LTWs (90%) and 279 of 306 STWs (91 %). Overall prevalence of sensitization was 11% (78/731), with similar proportions for LTWs (11 %,49/452) and STWs (10%, 29/279). 31 of the 78 sensitized were diagnosed with CBD (40%) for an overall CBD prevalence of 4% (31/731). LTWs were more likely to have CBD (6%,25/452) compared to STWs (2%,6/279). When health outcome data for LTWs from the 2 surveys were summed the prevalences of sensitization (18%) and disease (8%) were twice that observed in the 1993-94 cross-sectional study. Results indicate that levels of sensitization & CBD had not changed, despite significant engineering controls implemented after earlier survey. Differences between LTWs & STWs in CBD prevalence suggest that disease takes more time or greater cumulative lung burden to develop. Longitudinal surveillance is required to fully assess disease burden in beryllium workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Beryllium Blood Hematologic Tests Hypersensitivity Lung Metals Metals, Heavy Metal Workers Occupational Health Poisoning Respiratory System Safety Surveys And Questionnaires

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• Keywords:
  Beryllium-compounds Beryllium-disease Blood-samples Heavy-metal-poisoning Heavy-metals Lung-burden Metal-industry Metal-industry-workers Metal-oxides Oxides Questionnaires Sensitization Workers

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• ISSN:
  1073-449X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary ; Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  167
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20023077
• Citation:
  Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2003 Apr; 167(7):A680
• CAS Registry Number:
  Beryllium (CAS RN 7440-41-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Exposure Assessment Methods
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2003 International Conference, The American Thoracic Society, Seattle, WA, May 16-21, 2003
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:81e6822b6e4f67ac540f6f7e9b86ec109a8912149a3b9aaa95a426f356ffe1fa390951833b2813466882597ef3ee87f522a53f3c8541940e821061197b8ff6bd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/199660/cdc_199660_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 155.46 KB ]