Beryllium sensitization associated with low exposure in the manufacture of nuclear weapons

The nuclear weapons industry has long been known as a source of low beryllium exposure. We screened 1,004 former AEC nuclear weapons workers from the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant in Burlington, IA for sensitization to Beryllium.

The screenings were part of the Department of Energy (DoE) Former Worker Program established in 1996 to identify hazardous exposures in atomic weapons production, and provide medical screenings to detect health effects from those exposures.

Twenty three (2.3%) workers were found sensitized to beryllium by two abnormal or one abnormal and one borderline Beryllium Lymphocyte Proliferation Test. We found no statistically significant association with duration of employment on site or smoking status but the exposure intensity to beryllium suggested a dose response trend (3.9% for directly exposed vs. 2.4% for indirect and 1.8% for exposure not likely, Chi square test p=0.49). The prevalence of sensitization was comparable or higher than in other DoE sites with the exception of production, research and development machinists.

These results confirm the need to screen the low exposed populations for effects of exposure to Beryllium.