Definition
Beryllium exposure can have adverse health effects, starting from the contact allergy to Be and ending with the chronic beryllium disease (CBD) that leads to physiologic impairment and need for immunosuppressive medications, or even with the lung cancer.
Some Physicochemical Properties and Commercial Use
The chemical element beryllium is the fourth element in the chemical periodic table with the symbol of Be, atomic number of 4, and atomic weight of the 9.0122. Beryllium is a typical steel-gray metal, which in its free form exists as a strong, brittle, and lightweight alkaline earth metal. Beryllium is a relatively rare element in both the universe and in the crust of the Earth (it has a concentration of 2–6 parts per million (ppm) in the Earth’s crust), being naturally found only in...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Abbas AK, Lichtman AH (2009) Basic Immunology. Functions and disorders of the immune system, 3rd edn. Saunders/Elsevier, Philadelphia
Boffetta P, Fryzek JP, Mandel JS (2012) Occupational exposure to beryllium and cancer risk: a review of the epidemiologic evidence. Crit Rev Toxicol 42:107–118
Dai S, Murphy GA, Crawford F, Mack DG, Falta MT, Marrack P, Kappler JW, Fontenot AP (2010) Crystal structure of HLA-DP2 and implications for chronic beryllium disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107:7425–7430
Emsley J (2001) Nature’s Building blocks: an A-Z guide to the elements. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Falta MT, Bowerman NA, Dai S, Kappler JW, Fontenot AP (2010) Linking genetic susceptibility and T cell activation in beryllium-induced disease. Proc Am Thorac Soc 7:126–129
Fontenot AP, Canavera SJ, Gharavi L, Newman LS, Kotzin BL (2002) Target organ localization of memory CD4(+) T cells in patients with chronic beryllium disease. J Clin Invest 110:1473–1482
Fontenot AP, Kotzin BL (2003) Chronic beryllium disease: immune-mediated destruction with implications for organ-specific autoimmunity. Tissue Antigens 62:449–458
Henneberger PK, Goe SK, Miller WE, Doney B, Groce DW (2004) Industries in the United States with airborne beryllium exposure and estimates of the number of current workers potentially exposed. J Occup Environ Hyg 1:648–659
Hollins DM, McKinley MA, Williams C, Wiman A, Fillos D, Chapman PS, Madl AK (2009) Beryllium and lung cancer: a weight of evidence evaluation of the toxicological and epidemiological literature. Crit Rev Toxicol 39(Suppl 1):1–32
Martin AK, Mack DG, Falta MT, Mroz MM, Newman LS, Maier LA, Fontenot AP (2011) Beryllium-specific CD4+ T cells in blood as a biomarker of disease progression. J Allergy Clin Immunol 128(1100–1106):e1101–e1105
Newman LS, Mroz MM, Balkissoon R, Maier LA (2005) Beryllium sensitization progresses to chronic beryllium disease: a longitudinal study of disease risk. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 171:54–60
Richeldi L, Sorrentino R, Saltini C (1993) HLA-DPB1 glutamate 69: a genetic marker of beryllium disease. Science 262:242–244
Saltini C, Kirby M, Trapnell BC, Tamura N, Crystal RG (1990) Biased accumulation of T lymphocytes with “memory”-type CD45 leukocyte common antigen gene expression on the epithelial surface of the human lung. J Exp Med 171:1123–1140
Saltini C, Winestock K, Kirby M, Pinkston P, Crystal RG (1989) Maintenance of alveolitis in patients with chronic beryllium disease by beryllium-specific helper T cells. N Engl J Med 320:1103–1109
Schubauer-Berigan MK, Deddens JA, Couch JR, Petersen MR (2011) Risk of lung cancer associated with quantitative beryllium exposure metrics within an occupational cohort. Occup Environ Med 68:354–360
Toledo F, Silvestre JF, Cuesta L, Latorre N, Monteagudo A (2011) Contact allergy to beryllium chloride: report of 12 cases. Contact Dermatitis 64:104–109
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
Uversky, V.N. (2013). Beryllium as Antigen. In: Kretsinger, R.H., Uversky, V.N., Permyakov, E.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Metalloproteins. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1533-6_172
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1533-6_172
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-1532-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-1533-6
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences