 Acute beryllium disease in the form of chemical pneumonitis was first reported in Europe in 1933 and in the United States in 1943 . A survey found that about 5 % of workers in plants manufacturing fluorescent lamps in 1949 in the United States had beryllium @-@ related lung diseases . Chronic berylliosis resembles sarcoidosis in many respects , and the differential diagnosis is often difficult . It killed some early workers in nuclear weapons design , such as Herbert L. Anderson . 
