Held Files Complaint Against Proctor & Gamble

Client Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. has filed a complaint in Marin County Superior Court against The Proctor & Gamble Company, alleging that Proctor & Gamble failed to warn California consumers that their sunscreen products contained benzophenone.  Benzophenone is known to the State of California to cause cancer, and Proposition 65 requires that businesses offering products for sale in California that contain benzophenone must provide consumers with a warning of the risks of exposure.

Held seeks relief in the form of civil penalties and an injunction that will prohibit Proctor & Gamble from manufacturing, distributing, or offering sunscreen for sale in California without a "clear and reasonable warning."

The Chanler Group represents citizen enforcers who, acting in the public interest, commence actions against businesses offering products for sale in California that contain chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm without first providing the health hazard warning required by Proposition 65. Citizen enforcers bringing Proposition 65 actions in the public interest may obtain a Court Judgment imposing civil penalties, an injunction requiring reformulation of products, and/or provision of health hazard warnings.