Held v. H2O Plus, LLC

On October 20, 2010, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E., and settling defendant H2O Plus, LLC ("H2O") entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held's allegations that H2O sold bags for toiletries containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, H2O agreed not to sell any bags/cases for toiletries in California after October 20, 2010, unless the bags/cases contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $29,000, 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.