On Fri, 10 Feb 2006 11:28:15 GMT, T i m wrote:

Umpteen years ago some fluorescent tube contained beryllium

Wasn't it also in the heatsink compound we used to use ..?

No, it was in the insulator compounds we didn't use - unless you were
fooling with '60-'70s vintage VHF power transistors. It was also
beryllium oxide, not beryllium metal, which is fragile and a dust
hazard. The metal itself is relatively stable, so nothing like so
hazardous. Old jet engines could be full of it too - watch out for
those igniter harnesses.

Beryllium also turns up as a hardening alloying ingredient in some
bronzes - particularly springs, relay contacts and spark-proof bronze
tools. It always amuses me (I'm sick like that) when I see a big
oil-refinery spanner on eBay described as "Cube brand, freshly polished
for display"