ASTM Rook Conference on Asbestos Issues
(In-person only event)
Date: August 4, 2025 - August 8, 2025
Event Location: Pittsburgh Marriott City Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Organized by: ASTM Committee D22 on Air Quality
About the Event
The ASTM Rook Conference on Asbestos Issues will be held August 4, 2025 - August 8, 2025. The conference is organized by ASTM Committee D22 on Air Quality, and will be held at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The language of the conference will be English.
Objective and Scope
ASTM International’s Committee D22 on Air Quality announces the 13th Conference on Asbestos Issues. Since 1986 professionals from diverse backgrounds gather to present, debate, inquire, inspire, and share sometimes controversial thoughts and ideas that help shape and usually advance the science behind anything asbestos related. The themes engaged in the often subtle and overlapping nuances of asbestos issues involve medical and research community, geologic source interests, commercial built environment representatives, industrial hygiene experts, regulatory agencies, laboratory professionals and more. Indeed, insights from guest speakers far and wide continue to sharpen both the challenges of asbestos, as well as the unforeseen avenues of cooperation and solutions from varied viewpoints.
There are some changes to past year’s conference elements and other immutable attributes to the traditions of this conference that will remain unchanged. First, the old Johnson Conference, connected to the Johnson College in northern Vermont US, the home of the initial several conferences, has been renamed after the late great international expert, ASTM Fellow, professional and technical leader, colleague and friend, and past Chair of D22, Harry Rook. Instead of Vermont, we’ll venture to Pittsburgh in August 2025. Yet, the Rook Conference will be true to its storied past, howsoever named, by maintaining its technical roots established nearly 40 years ago. This five-day conference will feature oral presentations on current asbestos issues given by internationally recognized experts. We will provide a palette of themes to help provide content and context as to where we’ve been with asbestos issues, what are the current hot issues, and where might past and present lead us into the future.
Like the Johnson Conferences of old, freedom to express viewpoints among colleagues abounds, but recordings of any type are prohibited, and no publications will be forthcoming. Creating this safe place for frank and lively discissions has produced key pieces to assembling the puzzle that is this ever-complex mineral.
Topics for this conference include:
- Novel Research Findings on Asbestos Health Effects
- Geology, Mineralogy, Nomenclature
- Sampling, Exposure Assessment, and Risk Characterization
- Environmental Monitoring, Remediation, Asbestos Detection Technologies
- Global Analytical Methods and Consensus Standards
- Soils, Natural Occurrences of Asbestos, Talc, and Vermiculite
- Asbestos Analysis and Quality Assurance\
- And a follow-up to the Beard Conference Terminology Summit from 2024
Technical Program
This is the tentative Technical Program, and is subject to change.
Registration
Registration is now open, and will close after 11:59 pm EDT on Friday, July 25, 2025. NO ONSITE REGISTRATION!
The fees to attend this conference are listed below and are in USD:
|
Through June 30, 2025 |
July 1 - July 25, 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| ASTM Member | $1,300.00 | $1,500.00 |
| Non-member | $1,400.00 | $1,600.00 |
| Presenter | $1,300.00 | $1,500.00 |
| Session Chair | $1,300.00 | $1,500.00 |
| Student | $410.00 | $410.00 |
What is included?
The conference registration fees include access to view the oral and poster presentations, morning and afternoon coffee breaks, entrance to the Tuesday evening reception at the hotel, and access to the RJLee facility tour, if you would like to go.
Optional add-ons
Reception Companions - Companions (adults only, please) are welcome to attend the Tuesday reception for a fee.
Reception Fee - $40.00 per companion
Baseball Game - The conference organizers are planning a group trip to see a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game on Thursday evening. All (including children) are welcome to attend the game but everyone, even conference delegates, must pay to attend the game.
Game Fee - $55.00 per person
NO ONSITE REGISTRATION! These fees must be paid online with your conference registration and no later then Friday, July 25, 2025.
Additional Registration Information
All Attendees – All attendees must pre-register and check in at the ASTM Registration Area to obtain their name badge before entering the event room.
*Students – Students may be eligible for the reduced registration fee provided they meet certain requirements. To qualify for the student fee, you must have an active ASTM Student Member, be a full-time student, not employed full-time, and be able to provide a current valid university email address for registration. To register as a student, please email ASTM Symposia Operations at symposia@astm.org.
Cancellations – A refund of the conference fee will be honored only if requested at least 15 business days prior to the start of the event. To cancel your registration, please click the "Modify My Registration" button found in your registration confirmation email and follow the prompts to cancel your registration. Please contact Symposia Operations at symposia@astm.org or 610-832-9522 if you need assistance.
If you have questions concerning online registration, please contact Symposia Operations at
symposia@astm.org Tel: 610-832-9522, or ASTM Technical Support at https://www.astm.org/contact.
Not an ASTM Member? An Individual Membership costs only $115.00. If you would like to become a member of ASTM International and Committee D22 to begin taking advantage of all the ASTM membership benefits, including attending this event at a reduced rate, please use the link below to join ASTM before registering for the event. After you have become a member, please return to this webpage to register for the event as an ASTM Member.
Technical Chair Contact Information
Frank Ehrenfeld
Eurofins - iATL
Email: frank.ehrenfeld@et.eurofinsus.com
Continuing Education Units
Conference attendees interested in receiving 3.4 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for 34 hours must complete the CEU application form in the back of the program booklet and email it to ASTM Symposia Operations at symposia@astm.org. You must be registered and have attended the entire event in order to receive the CEU’s. A certificate will be sent to you via email approximately 1 to 2 weeks after the conference concludes.
Hotel Information
ASTM has contracted a block of sleeping rooms at the conference hotel.
Pittsburgh Marriott City Center
112 Washington Pl
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
The group rate is $173.00 per night, plus taxes and fees. The rate will apply starting with Saturday, August 2, 2025 and will end on Sunday, August 10, 2025.
The group rate will be honored on reservations made by Monday, July 21, 2025, or until the block is full.
Standards Development Meetings
Committee D22 invites you to attend their future standards development meetings. There is no fee to attend these meetings, and membership in ASTM International is not required to attend. For more information about the committee and their future meetings, please visit the Committee D22 Homepage.