Health aspects of exposure to emissions from burning coal of high beryllium content: interactions with the immune system

Abstract

Beryllium has an impact on the human health of professionally or non-occupationally exposed people. Current evidence suggests that beryllium acts as a hapten with limited antigenic properties and is presented by antigen presenting cells to CD4 + T cells, which possess specific antigen receptors. The immunological changes in humoral immunoreactivity were considered biomarkers of beryllium exposure. In the present, due to the development of immunologic knowledge, tests of cellular immunity have promising potential for further research in this field. The historical view of the immune response to beryllium in acute and/or chronic beryllium disease is an example of the development of the interaction between mechanisms of innate and adaptive (specific), humoral and cellular immunity. The authors emphasize the increasing importance of immunological aspects in the studies of health impacts of human exposure to environmental pollutants.

Serum‐derived exosomes from SD rats induce inflammation in macrophages through the mTOR pathway

“…Beryllium is highly toxic. In the working atmosphere, the concentrations of beryllium range between 30 and 800 × 10 −5 mg/m 3 (3.3 × 10 −5 ‐8.8 × 10 −4 μmol/L) and 0.39–1.68 × 10 −5 mg/m 3 (4.3 × 10 −7 ‐1.8 × 10 −6 μmol/L) in the non‐working area (Petanová & Bencko, 2020). A number of diseases, such as acute beryllium disease (ABD), beryllium sensitization (BeS), chronic beryllium disease (CBD), and lung cancer have been linked to exposure to beryllium and its compounds (Day et al, 2007; Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA], 2017; Phillips, 2019).…”