Held v. Korres USA Ltd.

The parties involved in the case Held v. Korres USA Ltd. executed a Consent Judgment on January 30, 2017.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. alleged that Korres USA Ltd. (“Korres”) sold sunscreen containing the chemical benzophenone in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Korres agreed not to sell any sunscreen in California unless the sunscreen contains no more than 50 parts per million (“ppm”) of benzophenone after November 15, 2018 and no more than 35 ppm of benzophenone after November 15, 2020. Korres has also agreed to provide its suppliers with these reformulation standards and urge each supplier to comply expeditiously. In order to provide Korres with incentive to accelerate reformulation, Held has agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty should Korres provide Held with certification by October 1, 2018 that its sunscreen products sold in California meet the final reformulation standard.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of up to $42,000, 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.