Held v. California Optical Corp.

On March 24, 2010, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E., and settling defendant California Optical Corp. ("California Optical") entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held's allegations that California Optical sold cosmetic cases 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 agreement, California Optical agreed not to sell any cosmetic cases in California after May 17, 2010, unless the cosmetic cases contain less than 0.1 percent (1,000 parts per million) of DEHP when analyzed using state and federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $25,000, 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.