Doug, We have been using Beryllia ceramics for many years and our standard advice is that solid materials should not be worked in any way that creates dust or fumes, that a hazard exists both by inhalation and by ingestion, and any persons handling Beryllium compounds should take precautions by wearing protective gloves, washing hands immediately after handling, etc. Needless to say, BeO powder (as used in some power semiconductors) is hazardous without any working and steps should be taken to avoid releasing it from any package. The material is toxic, so the standard marking is the toxic symbol, i.e. skull and crossbones in a triangle, black on yellow. This can be accompanied by a panel stating Beryllium / Beryllia / BeO as appropriate; again black text on a yellow background. I am not aware of any specific legal requirements, but this would be covered by general product safety legislation. Failure to mark could be interpreted as a lack of due diligence and you would not be deemed to have reduced the risk to a level that is As Low As Reasonably Practicable since it is reasonably practicable to affix a warning marking.
Best regards, Neil R. Barker C.Eng. MIEE MIEEE MSEE Manager Compliance Engineering e2v technologies ltd 106 Waterhouse Lane Chelmsford Essex CM1 2QU UK Tel: +44 (0)1245 453616 Fax: +44 (0)1245 453410 e-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.e2vtechnologies.com From: POWELL, DOUG [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 20 April 2004 16:08 To: [email protected] Subject: beryllium disease Hello all, Normally I spend all of my time on Electrical Safety and EMC issues. Still there is a perception that since I work in the area of regulatory compliance I should also know about workplace EHS. My application is BeO on hybrid substrates. I hope there is someone in the group that can answer some questions. 1) Is there any risk of beryllium disease through ingestion, cuts, etc. or is it only by inhalation of dust and fumes? 2) Is there a standardized warning label for products that contain beryllium? 3) Where can I find requirements? Thank you so much for your help, -doug end Douglas E. Powell Staff Engineer Corporate Compliance Dept. Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. Fort Collins, CO 80525 USA This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: [email protected] with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: [email protected] Dave Heald: [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] Jim Bacher: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc
