Aerosol Can Investigated in Drownings : Chatsworth: Container held a chemical used to induce dizziness. Autopsies on Kyle Sickinger and Jeffrey Vega are to be performed today.

An aerosol can found floating in a Chatsworth swimming pool with the bodies of two 16-year-old drowning victims contained a cleaning chemical that teen-agers sometimes inhale to induce dizziness, Los Angeles County officials said Monday.

Autopsies had yet to be performed on Kyle Sickinger and Jeffrey Vega to determine if the gas played a part in their deaths, but Los Angeles Police Detective Sal Gallegos said: “That’s got to be what it is.” Autopsies were to be performed today.

The two Chatsworth High School sophomores, both clad in swim trunks, were found Sunday at the bottom of the pool in Sickinger’s back yard. Also found in the pool was a white metal canister containing chlorodifluoromethane, a chemical commonly used in pressurized canisters intended for cleaning computer keyboards and camera lenses.

When inhaled, the chemical produces a light-headed feeling, but can also cause irregular heartbeat and breathing problems, said Philip Jacobs, an epidemiology analyst for the county Department of Health Services.

“Directly inhaling the spray is dangerous, even potentially deadly,” Jacobs said. “People have died” from using it. He did not know how many fatalities have been attributed to the chemical.

Earlier this year, the health department issued an advisory to teachers and parents warning them to watch out for this type of substance abuse. Some stores refuse to sell the cleaners to teen-agers, Jacobs said.

Jeffrey’s father, John Vega, said he had never seen his son with the type of container found in the pool.

Gallegos said teen-agers who knew the boys told police that they had never seen Kyle or Jeffrey with such a canister. However, the friends knew where to get such canisters and how to abuse them, Gallegos said.

Kyle and Jeffrey were discovered about 4 p.m. by Kyle’s older brother. Neighbors heard no cries for help or splashing before the bodies were discovered, police said.

The two boys met in September at Chatsworth High, where they were average students who stayed out of trouble, Principal Donna Smith said.

Kyle had moved to his house in the 19700 block of Lemarsh Street a few months earlier from a rented townhouse, neighbors said.

Family members said they had never known Kyle to be a substance abuser and were upset about “how casually” the canisters could be purchased.

“My oldest son went down to the place where they purchased this and talked to them and they removed it from the shelf,” said Sharon Nelson, the boy’s mother.

Albert H. Sickinger, Kyle’s father, said the chemical had been purchased at a camera shop in the Chatsworth area. “This is a hazard without any warning,” he said. “The kids are of the belief that it’s a fun, recreational type of material and it’s actually extremely lethal.”

Jeffrey had been confirmed Saturday at St. John Eudes Roman Catholic church in Chatsworth, his father said. Vega said his son was an avid baseball fan who competed in Little League and collected baseball cards. More recently, he said, Jeffrey spent hours riding his mountain bike in the foothills north of the Simi Valley Freeway.

Times staff writer Jocelyn Y. Stewart contributed to this story.