Held v. Peerless Plastics, Inc.

On August 21, 2009, the Alameda County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. Toys "R" Us, Inc.; et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant Peerless Plastics, Inc. ("Peerless") sold children's vinyl smocks and vinyl mats 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, Peerless agreed not to sell any vinyl smocks or vinyl mats in California after June 10, 2009, unless the vinyl smocks and vinyl mats are shipped and/or sold with Proposition 65 health hazard warnings or contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $35,200, 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.