Held v. 26 California Bazar, Inc.

On August 27, 2009, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. 26 California Bazar, Inc., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant 26 California Bazar, Inc. ("California Bazar") sold bibs and inflatable vinyl toys containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate ("DEHP") in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, California Bazar agreed not to sell any bibs or inflatable vinyl toys in California after April 17, 2009, unless the bibs and vinyl toys contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or are sold with Proposition 65 health hazard warnings.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $11,000, to be divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Held and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.