Meme from the 1986 movie, Heartbreak Ridge (Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Highway – Clint Eastwood – is providing sensitivity training to his Marines).

The Confusion

Over the past several months, I have received questions about the impact of test method sensitivity on control limits. In this post, I will do my best to explain why test method sensitivity and control limits are only indirectly related.

Definitions (all quotes are from ASTM’s online…

On 29 July 2020, Drs. Neil Canter, John Howell, and I, and Mr. Bill Woods presented an STLE webinar panel discussion about reducing COVID-19 risk in the metalworking workplace environment. You can access the webinar at: https://www.stle.org/files/TLTArchives/2020/10_October/Webinars.aspx?WebsiteKey=a70334df-8659-42fd-a3bd-be406b5b83e5.
Last week Ms. Vicky Villena-Denton, Editor-in-Chief at F & L Asia, Ltd., interviewed me as episode six of the F + L Webcast series. During the interview,…

Quo Vadis – or Déjà vu All Over Again, or are metalworking fluid compounders, managers, and end-users once again being thrown to the lions?

The Short Version

A decade ago, the U.S. EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) issued their Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) on the most commonly used formaldehyde-condensate microbicide – triazine. In the triazine RED, the EPA limited the maximum permissible active ingredient concentration in end-use diluted metalworking…

How to Remain Safe and Productive in Working with Metalworking Fluids During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Live webinar taking place July 29th, 2020 12pm CT

Three colleagues and I will be discussing COVID-19 risk mitigation in the workplace environment.  If you are interested, I recommend signing-up early.  Per the STLE blurb I’ve copied in its entirety below, participation is limited to the first 100 who sign up.

 Participants:

Dr. John Howell

Dr. Fred Passman

Bill…

Here’s a COVID-19 statistic – interpret it as you will…

A 23 June 2020 United Press International (UPI) headline in Health News (proclaims: “Less than half a population needs COVID-19 infection for herd immunity, study says.”

The report goes on to state: “The modeling study found that herd immunity potentially could be achieved with about 43 percent of the population being immune, as opposed to the 60 percent estimate derived from previous models.” This is based on modelling…