Held v. AMMEX Corporation

The parties involved in the case Held v. AMMEX Corporation executed a Consent Judgment on September 14, 2015.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. alleged that AMMEX Corporation (“Ammex”) sold vinyl/PVC gloves containing the phthalate chemical diisononyl phthalate (“DINP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Ammex agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC gloves in California after January 30, 2016, unless the gloves contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DINP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should Ammex provide written certification that all vinyl/PVC gloves sold in California qualify as reformulated by September 30, 2015, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $43,500, 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.