DOE News
RELEASE DATE: June 20, 2001
Health Screening for Former Beryllium Workers at Ames Laboratory Site
The U.S. Department of Energy is expanding its medical surveillance program to include former workers who may have been exposed to beryllium dust or fumes at the Ames Laboratory site in Ames, Iowa.
Over the next two weeks, the DOE Former Beryllium Workers Medical Surveillance Program will contact 776 former Ames Laboratory employees. In addition, Iowa State University has identified 222 non-Ames Laboratory faculty, staff, fellows and graduate students who worked in Gilman Hall during the late 1940s and early 1950s. These individuals, who may have been exposed to beryllium through collaboration on joint projects, will also be included in the program.
Each former employee is being notified by mail, and offered the initial beryllium screening tests which include a blood test and a brief health questionnaire. Individuals who test positive for increased sensitivity to beryllium will be offered more extensive testing for chronic beryllium disease (CBD). All medical tests are paid for by DOE.
Former employees not yet identified by DOE who may have worked with beryllium or people seeking more information are encouraged to contact:
The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), which is operating the program for DOE. The address is ORISE/CER Former Beryllium Workers Medical Surveillance Program, PO Box 117, Oak Ridge TN 37831-0117. The toll free number is 1-866-812-6703 and the e-mail address is NeillB@orau.com. For more information, people can visit the ORISE web site at http://www.orau.gov/cer/default.htm. Those that include their name, mailing address or phone number, will receive information about the program so they can decide whether to participate.
The objective of the program is to offer beryllium screening to any former DOE or contractor program personnel who may be at risk for CBD because of their exposure during the course of their work. With the addition of the Ames site, DOE’s program to offer medical testing to former workers potentially exposed to beryllium will be operating at more than 20 sites including DOE’s Rocky Flats plant in Colorado, its Oak Ridge facilities in Tennessee, its Hanford facility in Washington state, its Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and its Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.
All former beryllium workers will be offered periodic screening. People with positive findings will be referred to an experienced pulmonary or occupational medicine clinic for an evaluation. Individuals who show signs of increased sensitivity will be offered an extensive medical evaluation to detect the earliest signs of CBD.
Based on earlier testing of more than 11,000 beryllium workers, approximately four to five per cent showed an increased "sensitivity" to beryllium and one to two per cent have contracted CBD. Though there is no known cure, detected early, CBD may be treated in an effort to minimize or alleviate the symptoms.
Beryllium is a very light, very strong metal with several attributes that make it attractive for several scientific applications. In its solid metallic state, beryllium poses no health hazard. But workers exposed to beryllium dust or fumes may develop CBD. Ames Laboratory no longer machines beryllium – the remaining beryllium on site is primarily used in small quantities in a variety of research projects, including spectroscopy. It is in the solid, metallic, non-hazardous form.
Not all of the former employees being notified were necessarily beryllium workers. Some of the notified workers may have briefly visited the sites where beryllium was machined – i.e., safety inspectors, maintenance and security personnel. They are being included in the notification program because some people apparently develop a sensitivity to beryllium, even with a small amount and time of exposure.
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Editor’s Note: Workers diagnosed with beryllium disease are eligible to receive compensation and federal benefits under the recently-enacted Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act of 2000. Workers should contact DOE’s Worker Compensation Hotline toll-free at 1-877-447-9756 to be placed on a mailing list to receive a fact sheet and additional information in the future. The program is expected to begin on July 31,2001. Details about the compensation program are also available on the internet at http://www.eh.doe.gov/benefits
Media Contacts: Ames Laboratory, Steve Karsjen 515/294-5643
Program Questions, ORISE, Pam Bonee, 865/576-3147
Brian J. Quirke, DOE, 630/252-2423