Exercise/Fitness and Sporting Equipment/Accessories

From baseballs to exercise mats and sauna fitness suits to fishing gear, The Chanler Group's clients have investigated and tested a wide spectrum of sporting equipment and accessories.  Their ongoing investigations have found exercise, fitness, and sporting equipment containing detectable levels of lead and phthalates being sold throughout the State of California without the requisite Proposition 65 health hazard warnings.

Phthalates are "plasticizers,” chemicals added to plastic components and materials in consumer products to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability, and longevity and are listed by the State of California as chemicals known to cause reproductive harm.  The Chanler Group regularly investigates the presence of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate ("DEHP"), butyl benzyl phthalate ("BBP"), and Di-n-butyl phthalate ("DBP") found in consumer products.   

As a neurotoxin, lead is a highly-toxic heavy metal that aversely affects the nervous system. It is especially dangerous to children’s brains. Research has shown that repeated exposure to lead cumulatively affects the developing nervous system and, over time, can lead to attention deficit, learning disabilities, short-term memory loss, behavioral problems, and diminished intellectual ability.  Children under the age of six are most at risk for developmental problems stemming from lead poisoning as a result of their frequent hand-to-mouth activity and their small body size.

In most instances, enforcement actions brought by The Chanler Group not only procure compliance with Proposition 65's health hazard warning requirements, but also secure a commitment of product reformulation from companies. Such reformulation often results in the virtual elimination of lead and phthalates from the stipulated products. 

For instance, in DiPirro v. Western-Hoegee Company, et al., Michael DiPirro, a Chanler Group client, alleged that Western-Hoegee Company and more than 100 additional settling defendants sold fishing tackle that contained lead.  The Chanler Group negotiated $500,000 in civil penalties from the settling defendants, a portion of which was credited as incentive for the settling defendants to go beyond placing the required Proposition 65 health hazard warnings on the products in question by eliminating the sale of certain products in California. 

Today, The Chanler Group's clients continue their efforts to protect the health of California consumers by investigating exercise, fitness, and sporting equipment for the presence of lead and phthalates.  To review legal agreements which The Chanler Group's clients have reached with companies in this industry, please see the cases below.