Johnson J S, Foote K, McClean M, Cogbill G
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, USA.
Appl Occup Environ Hyg. 2001 May;16(5):619-30. doi: 10.1080/10473220118634.
The Cardiff Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) plant, located in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom, used metallic beryllium in their beryllium facility during the years of operation 1961-1997. The beryllium production processes included melting and casting, powder production, pressing, machining, and heat and surface treatments. As part of Cardiff's industrial hygiene program, extensive area measurements and personal lapel measurements of airborne beryllium concentrations were collected for Cardiff workers over the 36-year period of operation. In addition to extensive air monitoring, the beryllium control program also utilized surface contamination controls, building design, engineering controls, worker controls, material controls, and medical surveillance. The electronic database includes 367,757 area sampling records at 101 locations and 217,681 personal lapel sampling records collected from 194 employees over the period 1981-1997. Similar workplace samples were collected from 1961 to 1980, but they were not analyzed because they were not available electronically. Annual personal mean sampling concentrations for all workers ranged from 0.11 to 0.72 micrograms per cubic meter (microg/m3) with 95th percentiles ranging from 0.22 to 1.89 microg/m3; foundry workers worked in the highest concentration areas with a mean of 0.87 microg/m3 and a 95th percentile of 2.9 microg/m3. Area sampling concentrations, as expected, were lower than personal sampling concentrations. Mean annual area sample concentrations for all locations ranged from 0.02 to 0.32 microg/m3. The area sample 95th percentile concentrations for all years were below 0.5 microg/m3. For the overwhelming majority of samples, airborne beryllium concentrations were below the 2.0 microg/m3 standard. Although blood lymphocyte testing for beryllium sensitization has not been routinely conducted among these workers, this metal beryllium processing facility is the only large scale beryllium facility of its kind to have experienced only one unique a case of clinical chronic beryllium disease (CBD) ascertained by traditional medical monitoring procedures. The treating physician determined that this lung disease was likely caused by a systems reaction resulting from a mound contaminated with beryllium. However, he could not rule out the potential for inhalation exposure. Over the 17 years of measurement data analyzed, on occasion, airborne beryllium concentrations have exceeded 2.0 microg/m3; however, the Cardiff experience demonstrates that strict and consistent adherence to exposure control measures that emphasized airborne and surface levels and appropriate engineering controls, work practices, and use of personal protective equipment appears to have successfully prevented the incidence of clinical CBD with the exception of one unique case.
位于英国威尔士加的夫的加的夫原子武器机构（AWE）工厂，在1961年至1997年运营期间，在其铍设施中使用了金属铍。铍生产工艺包括熔炼和铸造、粉末生产、压制、加工以及热处理和表面处理。作为加的夫工业卫生计划的一部分，在36年的运营期间，收集了加的夫工人在工作区域的大量空气铍浓度测量数据以及个人衣领处的测量数据。除了广泛的空气监测外，铍控制计划还采用了表面污染控制、建筑设计、工程控制、工人控制、材料控制和医疗监测。该电子数据库包含1981年至1997年期间在101个地点的367,757条区域采样记录以及从194名员工处收集的217,681条个人衣领采样记录。1961年至1980年期间也收集了类似的工作场所样本，但由于没有电子记录，未进行分析。所有工人的年度个人平均采样浓度范围为每立方米0.11至0.72微克（μg/m³），第95百分位数范围为0.22至1.89μg/m³；铸造工人工作区域的浓度最高，平均为0.87μg/m³，第95百分位数为2.9μg/m³。正如预期的那样，区域采样浓度低于个人采样浓度。所有地点的年度平均区域样本浓度范围为0.02至0.32μg/m³。所有年份的区域样本第95百分位数浓度均低于0.5μg/m³。在绝大多数样本中，空气中铍浓度低于2.0μg/m³的标准。尽管这些工人中尚未常规进行铍致敏的血液淋巴细胞检测，但这个金属铍加工设施是同类中唯一的大型铍设施，通过传统医学监测程序仅确诊了一例独特的临床慢性铍病（CBD）病例。主治医生确定这种肺部疾病可能是由一个被铍污染的土堆引发的系统反应所致。然而，他不能排除吸入暴露的可能性。在分析的17年测量数据中，有时空气中铍浓度超过了2.0μg/m³；然而，加的夫的经验表明，严格且持续地坚持强调空气和表面水平以及适当工程控制、工作实践和使用个人防护设备的暴露控制措施，似乎成功预防了临床CBD的发生，仅有一例独特病例除外。
