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Magazines & Newsletters / ASTM Standardization News

July 2008

HEADLINES... This month’s top stories:

New Gas Container Law Requires ASTM Standard

A new law approved by U.S. Congress will help protect children from gasoline burns by requiring that portable gasoline containers have child-resistant closures that conform to an ASTM consumer safety standard. In 2005 alone, nearly 1,400 children were treated in emergency rooms for injuries related to gasoline containers. The new law will require that all gasoline containers sold in the United States meet the requirements of ASTM F2517, Standard Specification for Determination of Child Resistance of Portable Fuel Containers for Consumer Use. [Full story]

China Earthquake Relief
ASTM International has contributed to the relief efforts for victims of the massive earthquake that struck the Eastern Sichuan region of China in May with both monetary and product donations to assist with emergency response work and rebuilding efforts. [Full story]

Send in Your Statistics for New Q&A
Statistics play an important role in the ASTM International standards you write, such as the development of precision and bias statements for test methods, running interlaboratory studies, knowing how to round numbers properly, and determining sample size. A panel of experts is ready to answer your questions about how to use statistical principles in ASTM standards in a new question-and-answer column that will debut in the September/October issue of Standardization News. Send your questions to SN Editor-in-Chief Maryann Gorman at mgorman@astm.org.

 

GLOBAL NOTES . . . ASTM around the world:

New MOU Signing

ASTM has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Standards and Metrology Directorate (BSMD), the recognized national standards body of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The MOU program promotes communication between ASTM International and national standards bodies worldwide, fostering awareness of the standardization systems of all parties involved. To date, 60 MOUs have been signed. View more information about the ASTM MOU program.

Egyptian Organization for Standardization
In June, Teresa Cendrowska, ASTM vice president, global cooperation, met with representatives from the Egyptian Organization for Standardization (EOS). Topics discussed at the meeting included the growing partnership between ASTM and EOS as well as the use of international standards in compliance with the WTO/TBT agreement. As a result of the 2002 MOU between EOS and ASTM, the Egyptian national standards body has been able to use more than 500 ASTM standards as the basis of Egyptian national standards.

Concreto LatinoAmérica
ASTM Committee C09 Staff Manager Scott Orthey, along with ASTM Mexico office representatives Luis Ordóñez and Vanessa Corona, attended the Concreto LatinoAmérica conference held June 17-19 in Mexico City. The annual event displays the best offers in machinery, tools, products, materials and equipment for concrete construction in Latin America. The ASTM staff provided attendees with information about ASTM membership, training programs and the activities of Committee C09 on Concrete.

Shanghai Delegates Visit ASTM
Delegates from the Shanghai Power Equipment Research Institute (SPERI) and Shanghai Nuclear Energy Research and Design Institute (SNERI) came to ASTM headquarters in West Conshohocken, Pa., on June 18 to meet with ASTM staff. SPERI is a Class I institution for R&D and application in China’s power equipment manufacturing industry.  During the visit, ASTM staff members presented an overview of the Society with a focus on ASTM Committees A01, C26, D33 and E10. Other areas discussed included the U.S. standards system, ASTM's partnerships and the ASTM balloting process.

COMMITTEE NEWS... The latest from ASTM's technical committees:

Joint Green Meetings and Events Activity
Considering the effects of meetings on the environment is the purpose of a new activity launched by ASTM International and the Convention Industry Council through its Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX) initiative. [Full story]

Aviation Fuels Subcommittee Meeting
The focus of the meeting was aviation turbine fuels and aviation gasoline, with strong interest in the approval of biomass produced fuels, which would help to reduce key greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. [Full story]

New REACH Standard from Declarable Substances Committee
 The guide will assist industry with a communication tool in order to comply with the European Union's Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH). [Full story]

DID YOU KNOW?...Standards for Swimming Pool Safety

Preventing Accidents

Many families enjoy spending their summer vacations swimming and spending time by the pool. With all of the fun swimming pools can bring, they can also be quite dangerous, especially for young children left unattended. A few ASTM committees develop standards to prevent accidents that can happen at both residential and non-residential swimming pools. Two of those committees, Subcommittee F15.49 on Pool Safety Standards and Committee F14 on Fences, work on standards that address many aspects of pool safety, including pool alarms and safety devices, fences and gates, pool and drain covers, safety audits and more for pools, spas and hot tubs. Recent legislation in the United States now references some of these ASTM standards as requirements. Visit the ASTM Web site for more information on keeping swimming pools fun and most importantly safe with ASTM standards.

PUBLICATIONS... New publications from ASTM now available:

STP 1490, Reactor Dosimetry, 12th International Symposium

STP 1491, Engine Coolant Technologies, 5th Volume

STP 1496, Masonry

STP 1501, Automotive Lubricant Testing and Additive Development

ASTM Standards for Property Management Systems

ASTM Standards in Building Codes, 45th Edition

Search for other ASTM publications.

 

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CALENDAR... Committee Weeks, Symposia and Workshops, TPTs: Technical Committee Meetings

Upcoming ASTM Committee Week Meetings

  • October Committee Week, Sept. 28-Oct. 3, Miami Beach, FL

  • For more information on ASTM technical committee meetings and committee weeks, including locations, detailed schedules and future meeting dates, click here.

  • View a complete listing of all ASTM meetings.

Upcoming Symposia & Workshops

  • D22 on Air Quality
    2008 Johnson Conference: Critical Issues in Monitoring Asbestos
    July 14-18, Burlington, VT

  • View more information on current and past symposia and workshops.

Upcoming Technical & Professional Training (TPT) Courses

 

For more information, please visit the ASTM Web site, www.astm.org.

To see a full list of ASTM’s technical committees and view their Web pages, click here.

ASTM International is one of the world’s largest management systems for the development of voluntary standards for materials, products, systems, and services. Currently, ASTM has more than 30,000 members from around the globe representing industry, government, academia, and consumers. Participation in ASTM International is open to any interested party. The Annual Book of ASTM Standards contains more than 12,000 standards developed by ASTM’s technical standards-writing committees representing over 100 diverse technical fields.

Erin McElrone, Editor
emcelron@astm.org

Copyright©2008 ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA, 19428-2959, USA.

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