Held v. Royal Brush Manufacturing, Inc., et al.

On February 27, 2009, the Sacramento County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. Royal Brush Manufacturing, Inc., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant Royal Brush Manufacturing, Inc. ("Royal Brush") distributed and/or sold children's paint smocks 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, Royal Brush agreed not to sell any children's paint smocks in California after September 4, 2008, unless the paint smocks are sold or shipped with the Proposition 65 warnings or contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. After receipt of Held's notice, Royal Brush promptly coordinated with KB Toys for the return or destruction of all Big Kids Choice Children's Paint Smock BKAPRON (#0 90672 20105 8) remaining in inventory for sale in California.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $27,500, 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.