Beryllium Exposure Studies and Testing -
Testing Beryllium Vendor Populations
Thirty thousand former employees of 24 defunct U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) beryllium vendor companies needed someone to provide medical tests related to their beryllium exposure. With DOE’s expansion of its nationwide Beryllium Screening Program in 2005, those workers now turn to the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) for these important screenings.
Since these sites are no longer in operation, workers had nowhere to go for testing for beryllium sensitization. Many workers do not have the financial means to be tested through their private physician or other medical provider.
Using a brief health questionnaire and a blood test known as the lymphocyte proliferation test (LPT), ORISE determines if workers have been sensitized to the light metal or if they need to be evaluated further for chronic beryllium disease (CBD).
Of the employees screened, those with at least one abnormal LPT are referred for further evaluation through the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, administered by the Department of Labor.
DOE beryllium vendor companies that are no longer in business
- American Beryllium Company (Bradenton, FL)
- Atomics International (all locations)
- Nuclear Metals, Inc. (all locations)
- Beryllium Corporation of America (all locations)
- Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation (NUMEC) (all locations)
- Speedring, Inc. (Cullman, AL)
- Connecticut Aircraft Nuclear Engine Laboratory (Middletown, CT)
- Machlett Laboratories (Springdale, CT)
- Gerity-Michigan Corporation (Adrian, MI)
- Revere Copper and Brass (Detroit, MI)
- Speedring Systems, Inc. (Detroit, MI)
- Wolverine Tube Division (Detroit, MI)
- National Beryllia (Haskell, NJ)
- U.S. Pipe and Foundry (Burlington, NJ)
- United Lead Co. (Middlesex, NJ)
- General Astrometals (Yonkers, NY)
- Radium Chemical Company (New York, NY)
- Sylvania Corning Nuclear Corporation - Bayside Lab (Bayside, NY)
- Beryllium Metals and Chemical Corporation (BERMET) (Bessemer City, NC)
- Clifton Products Company (Painesville, OH)
- Aeroprojects, Inc. (Westchester, PA)
- Foote Mineral Company (East Whiteland Twp, PA)
- McDanel Refractory Company (Beaver Falls, PA)
- Vitro Manufacturing (Canonsburg, PA)
- Vitro Corporation of America (Oak Ridge, TN)
