Just a few years ago, health and safety groups in North America were interested in the dangers of being exposed to beryllium. Phoenix post-disaster inc. broke new ground in this field when the IRSST and CSST required manufacturers and dental laboratories that were contaminated by beryllium dust to be decontaminated. We offer this decontamination service throughout the entire province of Québec.
WHAT IS BERYLLIUM?
Beryllium is a very light, hard, and heat-conducting metal; this is why it is primarily used as a type of aluminum, copper, or magnesium alloy. For example, copper’s resistance increases 6-fold when 2% beryllium is added to it. Beryllium is found in manufacturing and welding factories, in the manufacturing of sports equipment, electrical and electronic components, dental prosthetics, and ball bearings.
While beryllium has many uses as a metal alloy, it remains nevertheless dangerous in certain forms. Workers exposed to beryllium dust of fumes are at risk of contracting a serious chronic lung disease, BERYLLIOSE (recognized as a professional disease since the decree of October 3rd 1951.) This disease can develop even in areas where the dust and fume concentrations are very weak. What’s more, being exposed to beryllium significantly increases the risk of developing lung cancer, and can even cause skin lesions.
Decontamination defined
While working with the CSST, we learned to conform to their demanding requirements, while being supervised by work-hygiene technicians from the CSSS (center for health and social services). Decontamination work requires specialized safety equipment, the creation of confinement zones kept in negative pressure, the creation of double changing rooms, the use of isolated showers and toilets, as well as equipment for recuperating contaminated trash. Contact us now!
