Held v. Coast Cutlery, Co.

On April 26, 2018, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling party Coast Cutlery, Co. (“Coast Cutlery”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement. Held had alleged that Coast Cutlery sold tool grips 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, Coast Cutlery agreed not to sell any tool grips in California after May 15, 2018, unless the tool grips contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP, butyl benzyl phthalate (“BBP”), di-n-butyl phthalate (“DBP”), di-isodecyl phthalate (“DIDP”), diisononyl phthalate (“DINP”), and/or di-n-hexyl phthalate (“DnHP”) when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $26,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Held and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.