A review on natural background concentration of beryllium prevalent in ambient air and different environmental matrices

Abstract Beryllium, the 44th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, is found ubiquitously in environmental matrices, including air, soil, and water, as well as in a variety of food items such as grains, fruits, and vegetables. The typical concentration of Be in air is reported to be ~0.05 ng/m 3 , whereas in soil, its concentration varies from ~2 to 5 ppm. The prevalence of Be in soil leads to its presence in water as well as in plants, and various human activities such as burning of coal, petrol, diesel, mining, and other industrial activities may further increase the concentration of beryllium in environment and associated matrices. It needs to be mentioned that the typical concentration of Be in food items is of the order of few ppb, whereas in drinking water, the typical values are reported to be <1 ppb or so. Based on the literature survey including some of the most recent studies, the present paper provides summary on concentration of Be in air, soil, and other relevant matrices as concise and consolidated reports on beryllium are scarce. In addition, related information like Be in drinking water along with available guidelines is also provided. Information on the prevalence of other isotopes of beryllium, i.e., 7 Be 4 and 10 Be 4 , which are radioactive and are produced by cosmic rays in atmosphere, is also included in the present paper.