ASTM Committee D01 reports of January 2007 subcommittee activities

JCT CoatingsTech, June, 2007

D. Darling presented information on NPCA activities. A primary focus of NPCA has been continuing the examination of the reproducibility and repeatability of EPA Reference Method 311 for Hazardous Air Pollutants. (In response to industry's input regarding the wide variety of hazardous materials that might be encountered in the greater coatings industry, EPA had written the test broadly, leaving details to the coating analyst who would know the characteristics of the specific coatings). Subsequently, in the Summer of 2003, the "Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) Workgroup (within NPCA) sponsored an intra- and inter-laboratory study of the method (Analysis of Hazardous Air Pollutant Compounds in Paints and Coatings by Direct Injection into a Gas Chromatograph). The initial goal was to identify the precision limits for the method in the simplest case; using a single set of specifically-agreed-on chromatographic conditions rather than the great flexibility permitted by Method 311. Since many of the many MACT standards for surface coatings allow for use of "compliant coatings" rather than forcing investment in pollution control technology and many rely on formulation data rather than testing to establish compliance with the rules, the reproducibility and repeatability of the test method become of paramount importance. For this reason, manufacturers and coatings users have long been concerned over the precision of Method 311. The results of the study tend to substantiate these concerns. At this point, M. Wills of Cal Poly reminded the group that the specified procedures were not always followed by the analysts involved with the study. Mr. Darling agreed, noting that the Association's evaluation of Method 311 is continuing.

G. Janezic noted that coordination with ISO on test methods for coatings was ongoing. A joint meeting was held last June. Much of ISO's work has to do with VOC test methods; the European test method for VOC uses a gas chromatograph and is very similar to ASTM's Method 6886, developed by Max Wills. ISO is also considering use of a headspace method (which could be adapted to be more similar to EPA's Reference Method 24 in that the test could include accelerated "aging" step, something not possible with a direct injection method).

D01.15, Lectures and Symposia

W. Golton, Chair

This subcommittee is responsible for arranging lectures and occasional symposia at D01 meetings. Attendees typically are treated to a seminar with several speakers on a topic of interest, usually at the January meeting. The seminar at this meeting was entitled "Recent Developments in Accelerated Weathering" and was a joint activity of D01 and G03 (Committee on Weathering and Durability) W. Ketola, Chair of G03, organized and chaired the excellent program. Dr. Ken White, 3M Weathering Resource Center, kicked off the seminar with a talk entitled "Assessing Variability in Accelerated Weathering Testing." He stressed the need for minimizing the effects of variability through the use of control specimens and reference materials, sticking to the same time period with the same device for tests on a given product and by carefully following test methods. Artur Schoenlein, Atlas Material Testing GmbH, spoke on "New Calibration Method for Thermometers used in Weathering Instruments." He discussed new traceable devices used to measure and control temperatures in accelerated tests. The presentation by Mark Gottsegen, Subcommittee D1.57 Chair, was entitled "Lightfastness Testing of Artists' Materials, Results, Unanswered Questions and Current Research." The talk by Patrick Brennan, Q-Panel Corporation, "Refined Acid Etch Procedure Enhances Correlation," described a joint project between Q-Panel and BASF to develop a meaningful accelerated acid etch test for automotive coatings. Warren D. Ketola, 3M Weathering Resource Center spoke on "Characterization of new filters and lamps for xenon-arc devices." K. Adamsons of DuPont gave an interesting poster presentation outside the meeting room. The topic selected for 2008 is "New Solvents and Formulating Techniques for Low VOC and HAP Paints." R. Montemayor and J. Lawniczak have offered to find speakers. After a spirited discussion, it was decided to schedule the seminar for June 17, 2008 in Vancouver, BC, Canada at the D01 meeting that will be in conjunction with D02 and ISO TC 35.