Beryllium and compounds

Reference Dose for Oral Exposure (RfD) (PDF) (51 pp, 284 K) Last Updated: 04/03/1998

Reference Concentration for Inhalation Exposure (RfC) (PDF) (51 pp, 284 K) Last Updated: 04/03/1998

Weight of Evidence for Cancer (PDF) (51 pp, 284 K) Last Updated: 04/03/1998

• B1; probable human carcinogen. Based on the limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans exposed to airborne beryllium (lung cancer) and sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in animals (lung cancer in rats and monkeys inhaling beryllium, lung tumors in rats exposed to beryllium via intratracheal instillation, and osteosarcomas in rabbits and possibly mice receiving intravenous or intramedullary injection), beryllium is reclassified from a B2 (inadequate human data) to a B1 probable human carcinogen (limited human data) using criteria of the 1986 Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment. Using the 1996 proposed Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment, inhaled beryllium would be characterized as a "likely" carcinogen in humans, and the human carcinogenic potential of ingested beryllium cannot be determined.
• This may be a synopsis of the full weight-of-evidence narrative.

Quantitative Estimate of Carcinogenic Risk from Oral Exposure (PDF) (51 pp, 284 K)

Information reviewed but value not estimated.

Inhalation Unit Risk: 2.4 x 10^-3 per µg/m³
Extrapolation Method: Relative risk
Tumor site(s): Respiratory
Tumor type(s): Lung cancer (Wagoner et al., 1980)