Held v. Swibco, Inc.

On October 16, 2009, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. Swibco, Inc., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant Swibco, Inc. ("Swibco") sold vinyl zipper pulls and key rings 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, Swibco agreed not to sell any vinyl zipper pulls or key rings in California after July 31, 2009, unless the zipper pulls and key rings are sold or shipped 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. 100% of the vinyl zipper pulls and key rings Swibco sells in California after September 30, 2009, shall qualify as reformulated.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $30,000, 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.