Urinary levels, tissue concentrations and lung inflammation after nose‐only exposure to three different chemical forms of beryllium

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the toxicity and toxicokinetic of three Be chemical species A total of 120 mice (four groups of 30) were nose-only exposed. The first group was used as a control while the three others were exposed to 250 microg m(-3) of fine particles of three different Be species (Be metal, Be-F; Be oxide, BeO-F; Be aluminium, BeAl-F). Exposure lasted over three consecutive weeks, five days per week and 6 h per day. Blood and several tissues were collected one week after exposure. Urines were collected before the beginning of exposure, at the end of every week of exposure and one week after exposure. Results showed that urine concentrations were different from one Be species to another and that excretion continued after the end of exposure. Except for BeO-F, where Be urine concentrations were stable during the three weeks of exposure, concentrations of Be-F and BeAl-F reached a peak after the first week. According to particle size, BeO-F obtained the highest theoretical pulmonary deposition rate, which partially led to the highest Be lung concentration. This group also presented the lowest urine concentration but that did not lead to more severe lung inflammation. Moreover, even if BeAl-F obtained the lowest percentage theoretical pulmonary deposition, it showed the highest Be urinary concentration, the lowest Be lung concentration and the lowest lung toxicity. In this specific case, a high Be concentration in urine did not reflect a high exposure or a severe toxic effect.

Immunotoxicity of 3 Chemical Forms of Beryllium Following Inhalation Exposure

“…Data therefore indicated that BeAl, a slightly more soluble material than Be and BeO, undergoes more efficient dissolution in respiratory secretions and is more easily trapped by alveolar macrophage or dendritic cells for fine particles, resulting in a more rapid translocation of the material to lymphatic, blood, and other tissue excreta. 23,26–29 Interestingly, this finding was also demonstrated in Muller et al, 18 where the urinary Be levels were higher for the BeAl-exposed group compared to the Be and BeO groups during and after the exposure.…”

“…For logistical reasons, the 4 groups were exposed alternately during 3 consecutive weeks, 5 d/week and 6 h/d. All methodological details related to the inhalation exposure, to the prevention of cross-contamination, and to human and environmental monitoring were published in Salehi et al 15 and in Muller et al 18,19 In brief, at the end of the each experiment (for a given chemical form of Be), all the sources of Be were removed from the laboratory and the generator and the inhalation chamber were cleaned. All the measuring devices, the animal husbandry cabinet, counters, doors, floors, hood, and trolley on which the mice were transported were washed with soapy water.…”

Detection of beryllium in digested autopsy tissues by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry using a high matrix interface configuration

“…Several approaches have been proposed to overcome these analytical problems. Of these, the use of internal standards and matrix-matched calibration can be used for beryllium determination in specific human tissues and fluids [8,[13][14][15][16]. However, a single approach does not provide the versatility required to enable the proper quantification of beryllium in human tissues.…”