While not in the same class of nastiness as cadmium, beryllium is not a nice material and is classified as a toxic metal. Exposure to the stuff can cause lung and skin disease. Another mildly nasty substance by the way is chromium, which is everywhere (in stainless steels). The Swiss watch industry is moving towards stainless steels with no chromium (a small but significant proportion of folk get rashes from wearing watches made of chromium-based SS). P.S. I believe that up to recently the Ilmor ("Mercedes") engines of the McLaren F1 team were made of beryllium (it's very light). They were stopped because it was banned (on the grounds of expense, not toxicity)
Hi, Tones is right, Beryllium is a toxic material. So great care is needed when handling & making items with Beryllium. When machining, the dust can be very dangerous. It's damage was reported as far back as the 1940s. Beryllium has some very good properties. It has excellent mass to stiffness ratio. It has good thermal conductivity, non magnetic & resistant to nitric acid. It is a very stable material. It is used mainly in alloys (Beryllium copper) & used in items such as springs, computers satalites, missiles, aircraft, brake discs, space shuttles & engines. It is also use a lot in the nuclear industry & in x-ray lithography. It makes for an interesting material to be used as a speaker tweeter. Being rigid & light makes it ideal. The downside, other than it being toxic, is the cost. It is a rarer metal than steel, Aluminium etc. So owners of JM Labs & Yamaha Ns1000 speakers, no licking your tweeters. SCIDB
In my last couple of years at school I worked during the summers at AERE Harwell, in the Chemistry block. The Beryllium wing was subject to the same levels of security as the Plutonium wing :yikes: - so as a fresh young thing I never got in there. As Dean said, the major factor (IIRC through the mists of time) that makes Be so bad is the size of the dust particles (can't now remember whether it was the native metal or the oxide dust), which are just right for lodging in your lungs and causing very nasty diseases.
Apparently it's beryllium metal and many of its simple derivatives (the oxide among them). In the European terminology, they're both R26 and R49: respectively, "very toxic by inhalation" and "may cause cancer by inhalation".
FWIW the story goes that Yamaha stopped production of the be drivers on account of their toxicity. Pioneer unit TAD still make be drivers. What about aerogel as a driver material?
mission used aerogel for some of their speakers a while ago. not sure if they still do. cheers julian
I have the JM Lab Electra 905s - I will remind my partner not to lick the tweakers in moments of sonic ectasy. I wonder what other surprises are in store.
