Held v. Anaconda Sports, Inc.

On July 17, 2009, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. Ascendia Brands Co., Inc., et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant Anaconda Sports, Inc. ("Anaconda") sold sport-related keepsake/collectible 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, Anaconda agreed not to sell any sporting toys/children's items in California after May 29, 2009, unless the sporting toys/children's items are 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 $14,000, 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.