Tot Survives Mystery Chemical

A toddler was hospitalized but in good condition Monday night, apparently after swallowing some powder from a container labeled as cyanide.

Two-year-old Christina Arechiga, of the 800 block of Ada Street, was awake, alert and talking to visitors at Children’s Hospital about two hours after she was admitted for observation, according to Vince Bond, a hospital spokesman. She was transferred to the hospital after initially being treated at Bay Hospital Medical Center here.

A neighbor child told Chula Vista authorities that Christina had eaten some cyanide powder the playmates found Monday afternoon in a small container on a flatbed trailer parked across from the Arechiga home, according to Battalion Chief Rudy Schmoke of the Chula Vista Fire Department.

Neighbors said Christina suffered a convulsion after consuming the powder, according to Schmoke. But officials were uncertain if the child actually had swallowed cyanide.

Bond said he was unable to reach the child’s physician to determine if cyanide poisoning had been ruled out as the cause of Christina’s distress. But he noted that cyanide--the deadly chemical implicated in a succession of recent product-tampering cases--typically has swift effects.

San Diego County hazardous materials experts are investigating the incident, Schmoke said. A sample of the chemical was taken to a hospital laboratory for tests.