Held v. E & E Co., Ltd.

The parties involved in the case Held v. E & E Co., Ltd. executed a Consent Judgment on May 23, 2014.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E., alleged that E & E Co., Ltd. (“E & E”) sold pillows with vinyl/PVC components containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, E & E agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC pillows in California after May 15, 2014, unless the pillows contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should E & E provide written certification that all pillows sold in California qualify as reformulated by August 1, 2014, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $51,000, 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.