🚀 go-pugleaf

> "Death may result from short exposure to incredibly low concentrations.
> Acute: pneumontis may result from single exposure to berylium
> and accasionally is fatal.  Chronic: pulmonary granulomatous
> disease may appear in 3 months  to 6 years, often after short
> exposure to low concentrations.  Uncertainty as to complete
> recovery.  Death rate about 25%.  Rewiew: "Berylium
> and Berylliosis" by J. Schubert in Sci. American 199,
> no 2, pp 27-33 (Aug. 1958)"
> -- 
Look at the date of that article! No one has died of berylliosis in 30
YEARS!!! 
There have been 2 (yes, count them, 2) cases of berylliosis in the last 20
years. The toxicity of beryllium is ONLY related to powder form. Contact in
any other pure form is absolutely harmless. Back in the 50's when beryllium
was becoming popular, some workers contracted berylliosis.  Only a small
fraction of people, about 3%, can even get berylliosis at any exposure
level.  Most of us are totally immune to berylliosis.  There was an
immediate panic, evidenced by your quote. Research quickly determined that
dry machining and ore crushing operations caused the dust which caused
berylliosis.

Here at Lockheed we constantly use beryllium, it has many properties
unmatched by any other material known to man, and it is extremely harmless
when proper precautions are followed.

You could propably find a 50's article which shows the benefit of cigarette
smoking.  I suggest to look into more recent work in the area.

kevin weber