During the past five years, certain insulating oils have been found to contain corrosive sulfur that can produce copper sulfide deposits as a function of time and temperature in operating equipment. A proposed revision to ASTM standard D 1275, Test Method for Corrosive Sulfur in Electrical Insulating Oils, will provide a means to certify that new or in service oils either contain or do not contain corrosive sulfur at a dangerous level.

A proposed new standard currently being developed by ASTM International Committee F01 on Electronics will prove to be useful to the tantalum sputtering target industry. The proposed standard, WK9490, Test Method for Reporting Crystallographic Orientation of Sputtering Target Materials, is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee F01.17 on Sputter Metallization.

An important ASTM International environmental assessment standard has now been revised to comply with a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulation.

The ongoing need to deal with oil in stranded ships, especially those in remote areas, is the impetus behind a proposed new standard being developed by ASTM International Committee F20 on Hazardous Substances and Oil Spill Response. One possible response to such a crisis, burning the oil on the ship before it can damage the environment, is the subject of the proposed standard, F 2533, Guide for In-Situ Burning of Oil in Ships or Other Vessels. F 2533 is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee F20.15 on In-Situ Burning.

ASTM International Committee F25 on Shipbuilding is supporting the 2006 Marine Environmental Engineering Technology Symposium, Common Issues, Common Solutions Government/Industry Partnership. Other sponsors of the event, which will occur Jan. 23-25, at the Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Va., are the American Society of Naval Engineers, the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and the American Bureau of Shipping.

ASTM International Committee D01 on Paint and Related Coatings, Materials and Applications will hold its annual mini-symposium on Jan. 24, 2006, at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The focus of the sessions will be on the role and use of statistics in the development of standard test methods, with emphasis on recent developments. The following three lectures will be given during the two-hour event.

Statistical Requirements Inside and Outside ASTM International

Properly dealing with asbestos has been a problem within the real estate industry for decades. In the 1990s, a large number of lawsuits and settlements reflected the lack of understanding between users and producers regarding the scope, objectives and limitations of asbestos surveys, assessments and screens (terms that were often used interchangeably, if not correctly).