Held v. Kraft Tool Company

The parties involved in the case Held v. Kraft Tool Company executed a Consent Judgment on October 24, 2017.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. alleged that Kraft Tool Company (“Kraft”) sold tools with vinyl/PVC grips containing the phthalate chemical diisononyl phthalates (“DINP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Kraft agreed not to sell any tools with vinyl/PVC grips in California after the San Francisco County Superior Court approves the Judgment, unless the grips contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DINP, di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”), diisodecyl phthalate (“DIDP”), butyl benzyl phthalate (“BBP”), and/or di-n-butyl phthalate (“DBP”) when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of up to $30,500, 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.