REDWOOD CITY -- Police were calling the death of an 18-year-old man who apparently drowned in a vat of sulfuric acid in Redwood City Sunday morning "an industrial accident."

According to Sgt. Steve Dowden officials believe fumes from the various chemicals used at the Costal Circuits Factory where Fernando Jimenez Gonzalez was working overwhelmed Gonzalez, and he fell forward into a waste-high vat of sulfuric acid and drowned just before 1:45 a.m.

Gonzalez, a Redwood City resident, was one of two employees working Sunday morning at the factory at 1602 Tacoma Way.

Dowden said Gonzalez did not appear to be wearing facial protection, a safety measure strongly recommended when working in close contact with hazardous chemicals.

Dowden said the incident will be classified as an industrial accident -- "Everything indicates that at this point."

Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials were investigating the incident to determine what working conditions surrounded Gonzalez's death, Dowden said.

The other worker at the factory was not injured, Dowden said.