Responding to the discovery of blood abnormalities among several workers at Argonne National Laboratory, the federal government said it will greatly expand its testing program at the facility for workers who might have been exposed to the highly toxic metal beryllium.
The U.S. Department of Energy will soon offer blood tests to thousands of subcontract workers, including electricians, carpenters and plumbers, who have periodically worked at the laboratory over the last 50 years.
Recent testing of full-time employees at Argonne revealed that seven current or former workers have blood abnormalities linked to beryllium disease, an often fatal lung illness caused by the metal’s dust.
“Argonne and the Energy Department never intended to cause harm to people who came to work here,” said Brian Quirke, spokesman for the Energy Department, which owns Argonne. “Argonne tried to keep exposure to a minimum, but we know that in some cases we did cause injury.”
Quirke said it was unclear whether subcontract workers were exposed. “We are taking the cautious approach, and it’s a possibility they were exposed. So let’s test them,” he said.
Argonne consists of dozens of buildings on 1,500 acres near Lemont. Managed by the University of Chicago, the laboratory conducts research in high-energy physics, chemistry and materials science.
The facility has used beryllium since the 1940s. In recent years, the strong, lightweight metal has been used in X-ray machine windows and in neutron beam experiments to study the properties of materials.
Argonne officials said the laboratory has employed numerous safeguards, including extensive ventilation, to protect workers from beryllium dust. Subcontract workers, officials said, are properly trained and warned about all hazards at the facility.
The laboratory currently does not handle beryllium in a way that could create toxic dust, Argonne officials said. The facility once had a beryllium machine shop, but it closed around 1980.
“That machine shop was operated under the strictest possible guidelines,” Argonne spokeswoman Catherine Foster said.
She said officials are investigating how the seven workers with blood abnormalities were exposed to beryllium dust. Their jobs varied, from truck driver to secretary, and no clear route of exposure has emerged.
Energy Department officials said local unions will help notify subcontract workers who are eligible for expanded screening. The tests are voluntary and will be paid for by the Energy Department.
Because it is difficult to determine who might have been exposed, the testing is open to all subcontract workers who spent time at Argonne–a group that numbers in the thousands. But officials expect a much smaller number, perhaps dozens, to take the test.
Similar testing has uncovered beryllium disease or blood abnormalities at other sites owned by the Energy Department, which has used beryllium for decades in nuclear weapons.
At the former Rocky Flats bomb plant near Denver, four subcontractors–two sheet metal workers, an electrician and a custodian–have beryllium disease. Several more have blood abnormalities.
People with blood abnormalities do not necessarily have beryllium disease; but it means that the body’s immune system has reacted to beryllium exposure. Further tests, such as a lung biopsy, are needed to confirm the illness. Experts estimate that about half of the people with blood abnormalities will develop the disease.
Microscopic amounts of beryllium dust can cause disease, and workers who inhale the dust have a lifelong risk of developing it . Studies show about 3 percent of people who have been exposed contract the disease.
Ken Lambert, assistant business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 701, said he expects about 70 electricians to be tested.
Retired electrician Bob Hightower, 66, said he occasionally worked at Argonne and does not recall being warned about beryllium. He said he does not know if he was exposed but thinks he should be tested because his job was often dirty.
“Concrete dust, sawdust and fumes and what have you,” said Hightower of Addison. “You open walls up, and you don’t know what the hell is in there.”
The electricians union first raised the issue of screening Argonne subcontract workers last year after reading about the hazards of beryllium in the Tribune, officials said. The union contacted the Energy Department, which agreed to the tests after problems were detected in full-time Argonne workers.
In recent years, the Energy Department has been testing the blood of current and former beryllium workers at nuclear weapons and research facilities nationwide. Of the 27,835 workers screened, 729 have beryllium disease or blood abnormalities.
One hundred and fifty current and former workers at Argonne have been tested, with six former and one current worker showing blood abnormalities.
The Energy Department’s decision to screen additional workers at Argonne occurs at a time when the Defense Department has come under fire for not testing its employees.
The Defense Department reports that beryllium dust has been detected at dozens of Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps facilities, with some levels exceeding the federal limit. The agency estimates that 9,500 people might have been exposed in the last 10 years, but it has ignored federal health guidelines by failing to test them. This month, several members of Congress called for such screening.
