Harmful beryllium detected in North Las Vegas office

Tuesday, March 12, 2002 | 9:42 a.m.

The presence of toxic metal particles was confirmed Monday in air and dust at a North Las Vegas office of the National Nuclear Security Administration, though at levels below what is considered safe for workplaces.

The government initiated testing after a worker was diagnosed with chronic beryllium disease last week. The agency oversees research at the Nevada Test Site and nuclear weapons security.

The largest amount of beryllium found among the air samples was a trace -- 0.01 micrograms per cubic meter of air -- well under the federal workplace limit of 2 micrograms per cubic meter.

In addition, 85 of 309 samples of dust taken from ceiling and attic beams contained traces of the metal. A sample from the building's roof also contained a trace of the metal, NNSA environmental manager Carl Gertz said.

"The good news is it doesn't approach regulatory limits," Gertz said. "The bad news is we don't know what activities caused the beryllium to be there."

The office building, in a complex on Losee Road north of Lake Mead Boulevard in North Las Vegas, once housed shops where weapons components and instruments used to measure underground nuclear weapons explosions were assembled.

Metals machined there more than seven years ago included copper containing 2 percent beryllium, a rare metallic chemical element found in combination with other alloys.

Beryllium can also be found in Southern Nevada's rock.

The name of the employee, who has worked at the building less than four years, has been not released.

He visited a doctor after experiencing symptoms of lung problems, including coughing and shortness of breath, said Dr. James Collet, NNSA medical director and a contractor for Bechtel Nevada, which manages the Nevada Test Site.

Exposure to the tainted dust can cause chronic breathing problems in sensitive individuals.

After the NNSA learned of the worker's diagnosis, monitors were sent to the site, where they vacuumed the air inside the building Thursday and Friday.

The NNSA will continue to sample air and soil outside the building complex through today, Gertz said.

About 40 of the about 400 who work at the North Las Vegas office complex have taken paid leave while environmental tests continue. The NNSA is offering workers voluntary blood and lung tests for beryllium.

Hundreds of Test Site workers have been screened for medical problems related to exposure from radiation and dust in the past two years, but no case of chronic beryllium disease was confirmed until last week.