Held v. The Gerson Company

On July 22, 2008, citizen enforcer Anthony Held, Ph.D., P.E., and settling defendant The Gerson Company ("Gerson") entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held's allegations that Gerson sold soft toddler toys such as rubber ducks, frogs, and other animal figures 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, Gerson agreed not to sell any soft toddler toys in California after July 1, 2008, unless the toys have Proposition 65 warnings provided or contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. 100% of toddler toys offered for sale by Gerson in California after October 31, 2008, shall qualify as phthalate free.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $44,000, 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.