5
Beryllium [Be, 4]

5.1 INTRODUCTION
Beryllium (Be) is an alkaline metal (the lightest of the alkaline Earth elements) of
the group 2 in the periodic table of elements and reveals lithophilic affinity. Its average content of the Earth’s upper crust is calculated within the range 4–6  mg/kg.
It is likely to concentrate in acidic igneous rocks (2–6.5 mg/kg) and in argillaceous
sediments (2–6  mg/kg). Contents of Be in coal vary from 10 to 330 mg/kg, and
concentrations up to 2000 mg/kg are also reported (Veselý et al. 2002). Its average
content in fly ash is about 10 mg/kg, but may be much higher.
Beryllium occurs at +2 oxidation state. It may easily substitute Ca, Al, and Si in
some minerals. Among its many minerals, the most common are beryl, Be 3 Al 2 Si 6 O 18 ;
bertrandite, Be 4 Si 2 O 7 ·H 2 O; and chrysoberyl, BeAl 2 O 3 . The first two minerals are of
commercial importance.
Beryllium occurs in several isotopes, of which 9 Be is stable, and 7 Be and 10 Be are
cosmogenic, and also produced by nuclear reactions.
World mine production of Be in 2010 was about 190 t, of which 170 t was mined
in the United States (USGS 2011). Industrial uses of Be are of great importance as it
is very light and very resistant metal. Cu–Be alloy is broadly used in the metallurgy,
and especially for the construction of aircrafts, rockets, atomic reactors, and so on.
Beryllium is also used in various electrical components.
5.2 SOILS
Beryllium contents in worldwide soils vary from 0.1 to 5 mg/kg (Table 5.1). Its highest contents are in heavy loamy soils, apparently due to its easy fixation by clay
minerals, mainly montmorillonite. It is also easily bonded by soluble organic matter
(SOM). The mean Be content in the U.S. soils is estimated as 0.6 mg/kg, within the
range of 0.46–1.14 mg/kg (ATSDR 2002a). In Japanese soils, Be contents vary from
0.5 to 1.5 mg/kg in Andosols and Gleysols, respectively (Takeda et al. 2004). Swedish
arable soils contain Be in the range from <0.5 to 1.8 mg/kg (Eriksson 2001a).
Recently, most data for Be in soils are related to contaminated soils. Increased
beryllium levels in soil might be due to geological influence; for example, soils
over  Be-rich granite in Czech Republic contain up to 15  mg Be/kg (Veselý et al.
2002). Anthropogenic impact might result in much higher Be concentrations, up
to 55 mg/kg in soils, in the neighborhood of the Be factories in Japan (Asami 1988).
Beryllium in soils occurs mostly as divalent cation; however, several anionic
complexes are noticed, such as Be OH CO
) 3
and Be CO 3 2
)
2 . It is rather immobile
(
(
in soils, but some of its salts (e.g., BeCl 2 and BeSO 4 ) are easily soluble and toxic to
plants. Its concentrations in soil solution ranges from 0.2 to 1.1 μg/L, mainly as cations, for example, Be 2+ and BeOH + , and as anions, for example, BeO 3
2 and Be OH ) 3
(
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