5.4 Other relevant data Increased levels of beryllium have been found in the lungs of people exposed up to 20 years previously. In dogs and rats, the lung clearance of beryllium oxide calcined at high temperatures is slower than for that calcined at low temperatures. After inhalation, beryllium also accumulates in tracheobronchial lymph nodes. Gastrointestinal absorption of beryllium and beryllium compounds is very limited. Beryllium accumulates in bone and, to a lesser extent, in the liver.
Absorbed beryllium is excreted mostly in the urine.
Susceptibility to chronic beryllium disease varies between individuals, and the disease may develop after low environmental exposures in some people. A similar disease is seen in exposed dogs, guinea-pigs and sensitized rats. Beryllium causes contact dermatitis, which is also associated with cell-mediated immunological reactions. Beryllium sulfate did not induce micronuclei in the bone marrow of mice treated in vivo . Beryllium salts induced sister chromatid exchange and possibly chromosomal aberrations in mammalian cells in vitro .