Held v. Conair Corporation

On July 14, 2009, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E., and settling defendant Conair Corporation ("Conair") entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held's allegations that Conair sold vinyl bags containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Conair agreed not to sell any vinyl bags in California after December 31, 2009, unless the vinyl bags contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 health hazard warnings provided.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $35,700, 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.