Held v. KHS America, Inc.

On April 4, 2018, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling party KHS America, Inc. (“KHSA”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement. Held had alleged that KHSA sold musical instruments with vinyl or other plastic handles or handgrips 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, KHSA agreed not to sell any musical instruments with vinyl or other plastic handles or handgrips in California after April 6, 2018, unless the instruments contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $28,500, 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.