Feature

Environmental Standards Revisited

Robert Parks

Although we have mentioned ISO standards for environmental tests for optical instruments before in this column, it is a good time to bring them up again. Some optical instrument manufacturers have looked at the draft standards and realized what the impact will be on their field if the standard is adopted in its present form. To review the situation briefly, there are two standards being drafted by ISO/TC172/SC1/WG3: Environmental standards, ISO 9022-Environmental test methods, and ISO 10109-Environmental requirements. ISO 9022 describes nearly 20 basic types of tests that can be used to determine how well optical instruments withstand simulated adverse operating conditions. Most of the 20 parts of this standard have been adopted internationally.

Publish Date: 01 December 1993