The state Department of Health is testing the type of substance that spilled out of an old X-ray machine yesterday after a Kahala resident attempted to take it apart.

At 11:37 a.m. a Hazmat team responded to the resident's call of a spill of an unknown substance in the carport of his Waiiki Street home.

The resident, who did not want to be identified, said he was taking the machine apart for parts for a potential art piece when an oily substance gushed out, spilling onto his shoes and pants. The machine, found at a demolition site in Kaimuki, was believed to be used by veterinarians to take X-rays of animals.

Firefighters decontaminated the resident and poured an absorbent material on the spill. It was determined the substance did not pose an immediate hazard to the resident or neighbors, said Capt. Terry Seelig, Honolulu Fire Department spokesman. The liquid did not produce any toxic vapors.

An official from the Department of Health's Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response Office was to obtain a sample yesterday to test whether the substance contained beryllium, a toxic and corrosive chemical.