Beryllium disease among construction workers at U.S. DOE nuclear sites.

"In the 1990s, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized that workers at its nuclear facilities were at risk for occupational diseases related to beryllium exposure. The Building Trades National Medical Screening Program (BTMed), which provides free, periodic screening exams to former DOE construction workers, offers participants a blood test called the beryllium lymphocyte test that can identify beryllium sensitization (BeS). In this study, researchers used the records of 21,854 BTMed participants to estimate beryllium disease risks and claims-to-acceptance rate for chronic beryllium disease in a federal compensation program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. Stratified analyses were used to explore trends in disease frequency by age, race, sex, DOE employment duration, site, trade group, and cigarette smoking history." - NIOSHTIC-2Cloeren M, Dement J, Gaitens J, Hines S, Diaz L, Tembunde Y, Cranford K, Shorter J, Mosier T, Ringen K; Beryllium in Construction. Beryllium disease among construction trade workers at Department of Energy nuclear sites: A follow-up. Am J Ind Med. 2022 Sep;65(9):708-720. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23411. Epub 2022 Jul 14. Erratum in: Am J Ind Med. 2022 Dec;65(12):1027-1028. PMID: 35833586.NIOSHTIC no. 20231108KF2023-Beryllium_disease_construction_workers_DOE_sites_followup.pdfproduction of this document was supported by cooperative agreement OH 009762 from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH