SACRAMENTO - The Air Resources Board announced today that Birchwood Laboratories, a North American distributor of gun care products, agreed to pay $500,000 for violating consumer product rules that protect air quality.

Birchwood sold Casey Gun Scrubber Solvent/ Degreaser in California. The product exceeded the state’s limits for chemicals known as volatile organic compounds which contribute to the formation of smog. The product also contained trichloroethylene, a toxic air contaminant that is strictly prohibited from use in ‘General Purpose Degreasers’.

“ARB is vigilant about ensuring that products sold to consumers in California meet the standards for smog-causing chemicals,” said ARB Enforcement Chief Jim Ryden. “It is equally important that the General Purpose Degreasers do not contain toxic chemicals.”

The settlement of $500,000 will be paid in four installments of $125,000 directly to the California Air Pollution Control Fund as civil penalties. The first installment was paid in August with future payments due on or before the anniversary of the settlement.

As part of the settlement, Birchwood also agreed that it would not sell, supply, offer for sale, or manufacture for sale in California any consumer product in violation of California’s standards for consumer products as part of an effort to reduce air pollution and smog.