Given the invasive nature of a lung biopsy, diagnosis can also be based on clinical history consistent with berylliosis, abnormal chest x-ray or CT scan findings, and abnormalities in pulmonary function tests.Establishing beryllium sensitivity is the first step in diagnosis. The beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test (BeLPT) is the standard way of determining sensitivity to beryllium. The test is performed by acquiring either peripheral blood or fluid from a bronchial alveolar lavage, and lymphocytes are cultured with beryllium sulfate. Cells are then counted and those with elevated number of cells are considered abnormal. Those exposed persons with two abnormal BeLPT tested with peripheral blood, or one abnormal and one borderline result, are considered beryllium sensitized. Also, those with one abnormal BeLPT tested with fluid from a bronchial alveolar lavage are considered sensitized.Chest radiography findings of berylliosis are non-specific. Early in the disease radiography findings are usually normal. In later stages interstitial fibrosis,  pleural irregularities, hilar lymphadenopathy and ground-glass opacities have been reported. Findings on CT are also not specific to berylliosis. Findings that are common in CT scans of people with berylliosis include parenchymal nodules in early stages. One study found that ground-glass opacities were more commonly seen on CT scan in berylliosis than in sarcoidosis. In later stages hilar lymphadenopathy, interstitial pulmonary fibrosis and pleural thickening. Classification
Berylliosis is an occupational disease. Relevant occupations are those where beryllium is mined, processed or converted into metal alloys, or where machining of metals containing beryllium and recycling of scrap alloys occurs.
At that time, most construction trades and industries were unaware of the potential risks associated with beryllium exposure.It occasionally killed early workers in nuclear weapons design, such as Herbert L. Anderson.Beryllium sensitivity testing was first performed as a cutaneous beryllium patch test in the early 1950s, but was discontinued due to the test stimulating sensitization or aggravating existing chronic beryllium disease. : 115 In the 1990s, the DOE began screening employees using the BeLPT test in facilities where beryllium was used, in order to take preventive measures against beryllium exposure; somewhat alarmingly, clerical staff who were never involved in handling the material had developed asymptomatic sensitivities.The 1954 Isaac Asimov short story "Sucker Bait" is largely concerned with a space colony dying of Beryllium poisoning. References
External links

ATSDR Case Studies in Environmental Medicine: Beryllium Toxicity U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
CDC – Research on Beryllium Sensitization and Chronic Beryllium Disease – NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic
Beryllium Network
Health-cares.net
Instant insight from the Royal Society of Chemistry examining the molecular basis of chronic beryllium disease
Rosner, David; Markowitz, Gerald E. (February 1987). "Ch. 7: Salem Sarcoid:The Origins of Beryllium Disease". Dying for work: workers safety and health in twentieth-century America. Indiana University Press. pp. 103–. ISBN 978-0-253-31825-1.