Held v. D.M. Merchandising, Inc.

On September 4, 2009, the Marin County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. D.M. Merchandising, Inc., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant D.M. Merchandising, Inc. ("D.M.") sold children's vinyl zipper pulls, vinyl notebooks, vinyl bookmarks, and bracelets with vinyl charm plugs 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, D.M. agreed not to sell any children's vinyl zipper pulls, vinyl notebooks, vinyl bookmarks, or bracelets with vinyl charm plugs in California after April 30, 2009, unless the products contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $42,000, 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.