Interested parties are invited to meet with two new task groups of ASTM Subcommittee D19.06 on Organics in Water on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2001, during the meetings of ASTM Committee D19 on Water in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Jan. 14-18, 2001. Non-members may attend.

At the June meetings of Committee D19, it was recommended during an Oil and Grease Workshop that the subcommittee form two new task groups for the analysis of oil and grease:

Task Group D19.06.03.03 will develop a draft of a screening method for oil and grease using portable infrared instruments in the field; and Task Group D19.06.04.04 will evaluate a new solvent that can be substituted in existing test methods to replace freon and other environmentally unfriendly solvents. Round-robin participants are sought for this standard.

“Ikon Solvent-P, developed under contract for the Defense Department, was first brought to our attention at the June workshop. The chemical structure includes iodine, which is more environmentally friendly than chlorofluorohydrocarbons,” said the subcommittee chairman, Martha Hendrick-Smith, manager, U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Laboratory, Groton, Conn. “We will fast-track the development of this standard, which we hope will replace a widely used freon-based ASTM standard, D 3921, Test Method for Oil and Grease and Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Water. Freon cannot be legally imported and laboratories which have limited supplies of freon would like an alternative.”

The subcommittee will also be initiating round robin testing after January 2001 for another standard test method, under development several years, that analyzes low-level petroleum hydrocarbons in water.

To participate in either round robin, contact Martha Hendrick-Smith, Manager, U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Laboratory, 1082 Shennecossett Rd., Groton, CT 06340 (860/ 441-2777; fax: 860/441-2641). For further Committee D19 membership or meeting details, contact Staff Manager Bruce Noe, ASTM (610/832-9719). //

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