"At 58, retired machinist Bruce Revers is tethered to his oxygen machines -- a wall unit when he’s at home, a portable tank when he’s out. The simple act of walking to the curb to pick up his newspaper is a grind."
"'This is a hell of a thing to live with,' Revers, of Orange, Calif., said of his worsening lung disease. 'There’s nothing I can do without my air.'
His undoing was beryllium, a light and versatile metal to which he was exposed in a Southern California factory that makes high-tech ceramics for the space, defense and automotive industries. His bosses tried to keep the place clean and well-ventilated, Revers says, and he wore a respirator to shield his lungs from the fine metallic dust. Nonetheless, he was diagnosed with chronic beryllium disease in 2009.
He will not recover."
Jim Morris reports for the Center for Public Integrity's iWatch News June 4, 2012.
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