Held v. Amscan Incorporated; California Amscan Incorporated; Party City Corporation

Posted: 01/07/2009  browse the case archive

On January 7, 2009, the Sacramento County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. Amscan, Inc., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant Amscan, Inc. ("Amscan") sold inflatable vinyl toys or other children's items 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, Amscan agreed not to sell any inflatable vinyl toys or other children's items in California after October 31, 2008, unless the toys and children's items are sold or shipped with Proposition 65 warnings or contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $71,000, 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.

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