Held v. Imperial Toy, LLC, et al.

On December 16, 2008, citizen enforcer Anthony Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling defendant Imperial Toy, LLC ("Imperial Toy") entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held's allegations that Imperial Toy sold children's inflatable toys, sports toys, and character toys 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, Imperial Toy agreed not to sell any children's inflatable toys, sports toys, or character toys in California after December 31, 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.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $25,750, 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.