A new beryllium exposure rule finalized by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration reduces workplace exposure to beryllium, an industrially important material that can cause serious lung disease.

Low-level exposure to the industrially important material can cause serious lung disease. Photo: JacobH/iStockphotoThe revised standard for general industry, construction, and shipyards will require employers to take additional, practical measures, such as personal protective equipment, medical exams, other medical surveillance and training, to protect an estimated 62,000 workers from these serious risks.

The eight-hour permissible exposure limit is now reduced from the previous level of 2.0 micrograms per cubic meter to 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter. Above that level, employers must take steps to reduce the airborne concentration of beryllium.

The new limits are estimated to prevent 46 new cases of beryllium-related disease and 94 associated deaths each year. Workers in foundry and smelting operations, fabricating, machining, grinding beryllium metal and alloys, beryllium oxide ceramics manufacturing, and dental lab work represent the majority of those at risk.