Skip Navigation


Annals of Occupational Hygiene Advance Access originally published online on April 16, 2009
Annals of Occupational Hygiene 2009 53(4):363-372; doi:10.1093/annhyg/mep015
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
53/4/363    most recent
mep015v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Vincent, R.
Right arrow Articles by Soyez, A.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Vincent, R.
Right arrow Articles by Soyez, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?


© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society

Occupational Exposure to Beryllium in French Enterprises: A Survey of Airborne Exposure and Surface Levels

Raymond Vincent1,*, Jacques Catani2, Yvon Créau3, Anne-Marie Frocaut3, Andrée Good4, Pierre Goutet5, Alain Hou6, Fabrice Leray7, Marie-Ange André-Lesage8 and Alain Soyez9

1 Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité, F-54500 Vandoeuvre, France
2 Interregional Laboratory of Chemistry, F-13 Marseille, France
3 Interregional Laboratory of Chemistry, F-76 Rouen, France
4 Interregional Laboratory of Chemistry, F-69 Lyon, France
5 East Interregional Laboratory of Chemistry, F-54 Nancy, France
6 Interregional Laboratory of Chemistry, F-33 Bordeaux, France
7 Interregional Laboratory of Chemistry, F-44 Nantes, France
8 Laboratory of Industrial Toxicity, F-75 Paris, France
9 Laboratory of Chemistry and Toxicology, F-59 Lille, France

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +33 3 83 50 21 92; fax: +33 3 83 50 20 60; e-mail: raymond.vincent{at}inrs.fr

An assessment survey of occupational exposure to beryllium (Be) was conducted in France between late 2004 and the end of 2006. Exposure estimates were based on the analytical results of samples collected from workplace air and from work surfaces in 95 facilities belonging to 37 sectors of activity. The results of this study indicated airborne Be concentrations in excess of the occupational exposure limit value of 2 µg m–3 recommended in France. Metallurgy and electronic component manufacturing represented the activities and occupations where workers had the highest arithmetic mean exposures to Be. Surface contamination levels were also high and frequently exceeded thresholds recommended by different bodies. These results should prompt the development of prevention programmes that include Be substitution, process control and surface decontamination, in conjunction with suitable medical surveillance.

Keywords: airborne • Be • exposure • occupational • surface

Received September 12, 2008; in final form January 14, 2009


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.