Beryllium Exposure Studies and Testing
Beryllium is a light but strong metal that finds applications in many industries, such as aerospace and defense, including nuclear weapons production. In its solid state, it is not harmful, but if your workers were exposed to beryllium dust or fumes during machining and manufacturing operations, they may develop a sensitivity to it. This sensitivity could evolve into chronic beryllium disease (CBD).
ORAU, through its contract to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), has been helping the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to identify former DOE beryllium workers who may have developed this sensitivity. [Learn more about this work on the ORISE site.]
ORAU operates one of only five laboratories in the United States certified to perform the beryllium lymphcyte proliferation test. This test helps to determine if a person has developed a sensitivity to beryllium.
ORAU has provided beryllium sensitization testing to more than 25,000 DOE workers, workers in the electronics industry, and workers involved in the environmental testing and cleanup industries.
ORAU has also partnered with National Jewish Medical and Research Center to assist them in ongoing beryllium research studies.
Testing Beryllium Workers
ORAU uses a brief health questionnaire and a blood test known as the beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test (Be LPT) to identify workers who have been sensitized to beryllium or if they need to be evaluated further for CBD. We can draw the blood for the Be LPT, or call on our network of medical clinics nationwide to collect and ship the samples to our lab. Contracts are in place with the other U.S. labs who perform the test to split samples and to handle large testing volumes.
Beryllium Testing Laboratory
A key component to the beryllium screening process is the Be LPT. The state-certified ORAU beryllium lab in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is one of only five laboratories in the United States certified to perform the Be LPT.
It takes approximately 10 days from the time the lab receives blood samples from a subject until the final report on those samples is prepared.
Beryllium Registry for Active Workers
ORAU has the infrastructure in place to maintain registries of exposure data for your employees who are currently working around beryllium. These data could prove useful for future epidemiologic analysis.
DOE Central Beryllium Testing Institutional Review Board
We place the utmost importance on protecting human research subjects. With experience in managing the DOE Central Beryllium Institutional Review Board, ORAU knows how to ensure expertise and consistency in addressing human subjects protection issues.