Held v. Dial Industries, Incorporated, et al.

The parties involved in the case Held v. Dial Industries, Incorporated, et al. executed a Consent Judgment on July 27, 2015.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. alleged that Dial Industries, Incorporated and Dial Manufacturing, Inc. (collectively, “Dial”) sold vinyl/PVC keychains 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 agreement, Dial agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC tubing in California after the Alameda County Superior Court enters the Judgment, unless the tubing contains no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP and diisononyl phthalate (“DINP”) when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Tubing that does not meet the above requirements shall be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Dial provide written certification that all vinyl/PVC tubing sold in California qualify as reformulated by August 27, 2015, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $50,000, 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.