Events Include USTDA-Sponsored Workshop, Rare Earth Materials Workshop and RoHS Roundtable

ASTM International Committee F40 on Declarable Substances in Materials conducted its biannual standards development meetings on March 10-11, 2014, at Thermo Fisher Scientific’s facilities in Shanghai, China. The meeting included both standards development work and special presentations.

ASTM staff and F40 members participated in other events related to declarable substances in China, including workshops on new chemical substances and rare earth materials, and a roundtable discussion on the restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS).

F40 Meeting
Committee F40 is currently developing three proposed new standards, which were discussed in the Shanghai meeting:
 
• ASTM WK26792, Guide for Identification of Declarable Substances in Polymeric Materials;
• ASTM WK21957, Test Method for Identification and Quantification of Lead in Paint and Other Coatings Using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry (EDXRF); and
• ASTM WK44003, Test Method for Identification and Quantification of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) in Rare Earth Materials (REMs) by X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry.

In addition to work on the proposed standards, the meeting featured a guest speaker, Huiming Chen, F40 member and director of the Chemical Safety Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine. Huiming spoke on the management and regulation of chemical safety in China, as well as work being done at CAIQ regarding REACH (registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals), regulations for chemical safety outside China, and testing technology and capabilities at CAIQ.

New Chemical Substance Workshop
Members of F40 participated in the U.S.-China Provisions on the Environmental Administration of New Chemical Substances workshop held in Shanghai on March 12. The workshop was organized by ASTM International in cooperation with the American National Standards Institute on behalf of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. More than 30 participants from different regions of China, as well as from other countries, attended the event.

Attendees represented industry, government and research institutes. The program focused on the regulatory framework for chemicals and hazardous substances in China and its significant impact on U.S. industries active in the Chinese market. Workshop topics included setting and evaluating chemical exposure limits, chemical regulations in China and test methods for chemicals. All participants had the opportunity to share information regarding chemical substance safety issues.

Rare Earth Materials Workshop
On March 13, F40 held a Rare Earth Materials workshop. Gao Lan, secretary general, Standardization Administration of China’s TC229 on Rare Earth Metals, provided an overview of TC229’s work, while Taco van der Marten, chairman of ASTM Subcommittee F40.04 on Rare Earth Materials, described the history and current activities of the subcommittee. The workshop also featured a presentation by Kevin Moran, director, Rare Earth Technology Alliance.
 
RoHS Roundtable
Alyson Fick, ASTM staff manager for F40, spoke at a March 17 event held by the American Chamber of Commerce, China division, in Beijing. The roundtable on restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS) standards provided the opportunity for China-based U.S.-funded companies to understand ASTM standards that consider RoHS issues. Also speaking at that roundtable were Weibing Xing, chief engineer, China Electric Standardization Institute and Huiming Chen.

While in Beijing, Fick met with the secretariat of the SAC TC229 and exchanged information on the scope and the standards development initiatives of ASTM Subcommittee F40.04 on Rare Earth Materials. The secretary general of TC229, Gao Lan, has submitted a proposal regarding a rare earth standard to ASTM F40.04.

Sinopec Visit
In addition to the F40 meetings and events, Fick, along with ASTM China office representatives Liu Fei and Nancy Hu, visited the polymers and plastic building product division of Sinopec Petroleum in Beijing. This division uses many standards under the jurisdiction of ASTM International Committee D20 on Plastics. The ASTM staff provided an overview of ASTM and D20 to 20 attending engineers. A delegation from this division of Sinopec visited ASTM International headquarters in West Conshohocken, Pa., in 2013.

ASTM International welcomes participation in the development of its standards. For more information on becoming an ASTM member, visit www.astm.org/JOIN.

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ASTM Committee F40 Next Meeting: Nov. 12-14, 2014, New Orleans, La.
ASTM Staff Contact: Alyson Fick, Phone: 610-832-9710; afick@astm.org 
ASTM PR Contact: Barbara Schindler, Phone: 610-832-9603; bschindl@astm.org

Release #9634