Held v. K&M International, Inc.

On October 13, 2010, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. K&M International, Inc., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant K&M International, Inc. ("K&M") sold vinyl bags 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 agreement, K&M agreed not to sell any children's vinyl bags in California after July 1, 2010, unless the vinyl bags contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $20,000, to be 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.