Brooke Clarke wrote: > Hi Bruce: > > Why is beryllium oxide a problem when it's already in a product? > > I believe the danger is something similar to asbestos where inhaling large > amounts it is the problem. Shipyard workers applying loose asbestos to pipes > and boilers inhaled the material all during there work day and ended up with > medical problems. I've heard that electronics workers that made products > from > beryllium oxide also suffered medical problems. They were breathing a lot of > the dust. Mechanics who grind brake material will have no problem from > asbestos just as motorists since the "fish hooks" are no longer present in > the > asbestos dust. I used to have a sheet of asbestos that fit into the oven and > was used to bake bread. It's OK to eat asbestos and probably beryllium > oxide. > There's a disused hotel on our main street that's a brick building heated > with a steam boiler with the whole system insulated with asbestos. It's a > real > (expensive) problem to remove that asbestos in a way safe for the person > doing > it and doing all the needed OSH paperwork. I believe the cost to remove the > asbestos far exceeds the economic value of the building and the land it's > sitting on. In time that will change. > > Don't see any problem related to (beryllium oxide) oscillator disposal. Can > you elaborate? > > Have Fun, > > Brooke Clarke > http://www.prc68.com > > Bruce Griffiths wrote: > . . . >> However there are a few OCXOs that use beryllium oxide within them, >> these are usually labelled as such and no attempt at reverse engineering >> should be made. >> I have one of these lying around. >> Safe disposal of such devices is also problematic. >> >> Bruce
Brooke, My wife is getting a degree in public health and has investigated this stuff. We have a local Brush factory that makes products from beryllium oxide. It does cause some of the workers to get a type of lung disease, in spite of the air handling systems they have in place. My wife told me that there has been a notable, documented incidence of beryllium disease in the OSHA inspectors who check the plants for compliance. So it's not safe even to have a job making sure it's safe! The exposure prevention method is to never breathe the dust. That means keeping it wet or encapsulated at all times. A single particle of beryllium in the right place at the right time can be enough to cause problems. So yeah, don't mess with beryllium oxide. --David Forbes, Tucson AZ _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
