Held v. Levlad, LLC

The parties involved in the case Held v. Levlad, LLC executed a Consent Judgment on April 7, 2015.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D, P.E. alleged that Levlad, LLC (“Levlad”) sold sunscreen products containing the chemical benzophenone in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Levlad agreed not to sell any sunscreen products in California after the Marin County Superior Court approves the Judgment, unless the sunscreen contains less than 12.5 parts per million (“ppm”) of benzophenone when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies, or less than 200 ppm in its raw material, octocrylene.  Levlad has agreed to remove all non-reformulated products from the stream of commerce by October 31, 2016.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $84,400, 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.