AEC Recommendations for the Control of Beryllium Hazards

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AEC RECOMMENDATIONS K I R THE CONTIDL OF BERYLLIUM HAZARDS a. The average in-plant atmospheric beryllium concentration should not exceed 2 micro=rams p e r cubic meter, If the result of the daily weighted average con cent rat i n, computed on a quart e ly basis,for any occupation exceeds 2 ug/m 3, butis less than 5 ug/m 5, t h e contractor will submit plans f o r necessary correcaverage concentration exceeds 5 ug/m T, t h e operation i n question will daily average concentration exceeding 2 ug/m Ywill not be permitted t ions for AEC approval and provide all personnel exposed in this area with approved personal respiratory pot ect ive equipment. be halted until the necessary improvements c be accomplished. A t o exist fora period exceeding 60 days except with the specific approval of t h e Commission. This approval will be granted only i n the event that satisfactory procedures for reducing the concentration to below 2 ug/m3 have been accepted by the Commission. If the daily b. Inthe eve t that a single air sample shows a concentration i n excesa of 25 ug/m within the operating area, butis less than four thus this value, all exposed individuals will be provided with personal respiratory protection equipment approved by the Commission, aid the Commission will be notified of steps which are being taken to el hi - nate the high concentration. The concentration in these area ahall be confirmed with a second sample within ten days of the time at which such a sample was obtained. If t h e concentration exceeds four times the 25 u g / d level in a single sample, personal respiratory protective equipment will be provided immediately, and a confirmatory sample taken so that confirmation will be available within ten days of the time that the original sample was taken. If this second also exceeds 25 ug/m 3 by a factor of 4, operations will be halted and the necessary corrections made t o reduce the airborne concentration at this sia g le point to below 25 ug/m3, no Case will dn cent rations above 25 ug@' be permitted to &st fora period exceeding 60 days without the specific approval of the Conmission. This approval will be granted only if steps are undertaken which can be expected t o provide a satisfactory reduction i n Inthe neighborhood of an AEC plant handling beryllium compounds, the monthly average yn cent ration at the breathing zone level should not exceed 0.01 ug/m The t tal contribution from a l labove background, sources, however, must not exceed Oel ug/m se

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- In the event that the maximum average neighborhood concentration a t the ground du i n g any calendLar month, as determined on a month will be expPcted t o inform the AEC of specific procedures which will be undertaken t o reduce the air-bo ne concentration, Inthe eveDt that the and the necessary 3or rect ions made t o reduce the average concentra ion above background will be permitted t o exist for not more thana 60-day period unless specifically authorized by the Commission, z ation will be forthcoming only if steps are being taken which are expected t o result in a satisfactory reduction in effluent material. 0.01 ug/m '3 above background, but does not exceed 0.05 ug/mT the plant concentration exceeds 0.05 ug/m T , operations will be immediately halted a. There should be a medical program, supervised by a physician, t o cover all workers exposed t o beryllium and its compounds, b. If there is any evidence that an individual has chronic beryllium poisoning, such an individual should b e excluded from any further exposure t o beryllium compounds, I n order to in sure adequate sampling o f breathing air concentrations, t h e following o r equivalent procedures approved by the Commission should a, Each separate plant operation will be broken down into its primary components, and the average time per day required for the accomplishment of each component and t h e number of times it i s repeated will be determined. A minimum of 3 breathing zone samples will be taken t o evaluate the exposure arising from each such job component in addition to an adequate sampling of the general air so that a complete overall exposure may be arrived at for each plant operator. On the basis of these samples, a daily average exposure will be conputed for each operation. The average will be weighted with time by multiplying the average concentration for each job component times t h e amount of time spent by the operator each day i n accomplishing the component, The sum of all of these products divided by the total time per day will yield the time weighted average concentration. A minimum of four such evaluations will be performed each year f o r bo Representatives of t h e Commission will be permitted t o perform similar surveys at their discretion in order that procedures being followed by t h e contractor may be evaluated, c. Determination of t h e average neighborhood concentration will be made not less than three permanent monitoring stations utilizing

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air sampling equipment capable of handling an average air volume in excess of 1 m3/min. Meteorological data will be obtained t o insure that the samples obtained by the monitoring stations can be inter - pre ted in terms of the direction of maximum ground level concentration, d. Determination of background will be made ina manner similar to that described i n Paragraph c above for determining average neighborhood plant operation o r will be determined by plotting concentration values a t increasing distance from the plant site sufficiently remote to establish an irreducible level, Background values may be obtained either prior to All equipment and procedures employed inthe determination of these concent rations must be approved by the Commission prior to operation. E. Approval o f Construction Plans Prior to construction, a flow diagram plus plans and specifications of hazard control procedures t o be followed a t each operation will be reviewed by the Commission for adequacy i n meeting the very rigid standards necessary for the control of health hazards i n beryllium processing. Approval, however, will be based on performance e