Elemental analysis of contemporary dental materials regarding potential beryllium content

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 19119 - 10
• Main Authors: Burkhardt, F., Pieralli, S., Bergfeldt, T., Wemken, G., Wesemann, C., Stolz, D., Spies, B. C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 09.11.2022; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 692/1537; 692/308; 692/499; 692/700; Beryllium - analysis; Dental Materials; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Occupational Exposure - analysis; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission - methods
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-21068-9

Exposure to beryllium (Be) can lead to lung pathologies, such as chronic beryllium disease (CBD). This occupational illness has been more prevalent among dental technicians compared to the non-exposed population. Although most manufacturers state that dental materials are Be-free, this prevalence raises the question of whether the materials are completely devoid of Be-traces. Thus, the objective of the present study was to analyze the elemental composition, with emphasis on Be, of a wide range of commercially available dental materials frequently used by dental laboratories. Samples of 32 different materials were collected and analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The results showed that the Be content was below the limit of quantification in all included samples (< 0.00005 mass-%). Therefore, it can be concluded that possible traces of Be were below clinical relevance in dental materials. Exposure of dental technicians to alternative Be sources should be further evaluated.