In the average household, it attacks everything from gas lines and water pipes to the shiny exterior of the family car. When roads and foundations collapse in your neighborhood, corrosion is often the insidious culprit. It's the number-one threat to America's aging infrastructure, sabotaging underground pipelines, parking garages, bridges, railroads, and water distribution systems. Not even the Statue of Liberty and other precious landmarks can escape its deteriorating forces.
Corrosion also plagues American industry.
It must be reckoned with in a host of commercial processes, from manufacturing paper and chemicals to drilling for oil and gas offshore. It even disturbs telephone and electric power systems. In every sector where corrosion is imminent, there's a potential threat to public health and safety. But since the 1964 formation of ASTM Committee G-1 on Corrosion of Metals, the committee has been quite successful in providing standards that serve as weapons in industry's war against corrosion. Recently, the committee has placed more emphasis on industry-specific standards.