Held v. MeadWestvaco Corporation, et al.

On October 2, 2009, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. MeadWestvaco Corporation, et al. which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant MeadWestvaco Corporation ("MWV") sold children's vinyl zipper pulls 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, MWV agreed not to sell any vinyl zipper pulls in California after August 7, 2009, unless the vinyl zipper pulls 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 $45,000, 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.