Held v. Volume Distributors, Inc.

On December 18, 2009, the Orange County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. Volume Distributors, Inc., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant Volume Distributors, Inc. ("Volume Distributors") sold vinyl bathroom toys/children's items 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 agreement, Volume Distributors agreed not to sell any vinyl bathroom toys/children's items in California after October 9, 2009, unless the toys/children's items contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 health hazard warnings provided.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $23,000, 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.