Nanotechnology Standards Development Subject of Upcoming ASTM International Meeting

On Jan. 18, 2005, ASTM
International will hold an organizational meeting to discuss the development
of consensus standards for Nanotechnology. The meeting will take place at ASTM
International Headquarters in West Conshohocken, Pa.
At a planning meeting held on Oct. 1, 2004, at NIST Headquarters, key
representatives from the many stakeholders affected by the nanotech space,
including the government (NIST, U.S. FDA), academic (CBEN/Rice University),
legal, and industrial sectors unanimously agreed to hold an organizational
meeting for the development of this new activity within ASTM International.
Various disciplines, including consumers, manufacturers, suppliers, trade and
professional societies, and federal agencies are being invited to participate.
The attendees at the planning meeting recognized that while research into
properties, synthesis, and applications of nanostructures is growing at an
exponential rate, there does not exist (at present) a common language to
describe the chemical compositions and physical forms of these new materials.
This absence hampers technical communication within the myriad fields involved
in this space, and prevents outreach to the public at large as products
containing nanomaterials enter the marketplace.
ASTM International stands ready to accommodate this new standardization
initiative. Stakeholder involvement at this meeting is critical to guide the
direction for this new activity. The time is now for participation in a
neutral forum whereby the private and public sectors can work together to
develop a consensus standards program. ASTM International provides a
management system for the development of standards and related information for
materials, products, systems, and services used globally. All segments of an
industry (producers, users, consumers, government, and academia) participate
in the development of this information to ensure that all technical points of
view are represented – it is extremely important that all parties are
confident they will have fair and equal representation in the development of
the final consensus standards. Finally, ASTM International provides leadership
and management support for 136 standards developing committees. These
committees have produced over 11,000 standards for an extremely diverse
collection of industries.
For questions concerning the above, please feel free to contact Pat A.
Picariello, director, Developmental Operations, ASTM International (phone:
610/832-9720; ppicarie@astm.org).
Established in 1898, ASTM International is one of the largest standards
development and delivery systems in the world. ASTM standards are accepted and
used in R&D, product testing, quality systems, and commercial transactions
around the globe.