Held v. First Aid Only, Inc.

Whistleblower Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling party First Aid Only, Inc. (“First Aid”) entered into a Settlement Agreement on February 14, 2013, which resolved Held’s allegations that First Aid sold first aid kits with vinyl/PVC cases 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, First Aid agreed not to sell any first aid kits in California after March 1, 2013, unless the kits contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  First aid kits received in inventory prior to February 1, 2013, may be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should First Aid eliminate the need for Proposition 65 warnings on the kits by August 15, 2013, and continuing into the future, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $54,000, 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.