Beryllium solubility in occupational airborne particles: Sequential extraction procedure and workplace application

ABSTRACT

Modification of an existing sequential extraction procedure for inorganic beryllium species in the particulate matter of emissions and in working areas is described. The speciation protocol was adapted to carry out beryllium extraction in closed-face cassette sampler to take wall deposits into account. This four-step sequential extraction procedure aims to separate beryllium salts, metal, and oxides from airborne particles for individual quantification. Characterization of the beryllium species according to their solubility in air samples may provide information relative to toxicity, which is potentially related to the different beryllium chemical forms. Beryllium salts (BeF₂, BeSO₄), metallic beryllium (Be_met), and beryllium oxide (BeO) were first individually tested, and then tested in mixtures. Cassettes were spiked with these species and recovery rates were calculated. Quantitative analyses with matched matrix were performed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Method Detection Limits (MDLs) were calculated for the four matrices used in the different extraction steps. In all cases, the MDL was below 4.2 ng/sample. This method is appropriate for assessing occupational exposure to beryllium as the lowest recommended threshold limit values are 0.01 µg.m⁻³ in France^[1] and 0.05 µg.m⁻³ in the USA.^[2]

The protocol was then tested on samples from French factories where occupational beryllium exposure was suspected. Beryllium solubility was variable between factories and among the same workplace between different tasks.

KEYWORDS:

• Airborne particles
• ICP-MS
• inorganic beryllium
• occupational exposure
• speciation