If your head aches and your teeth itch, the computer monitor on your desk may be the culprit. It can produce potentially harmful gases and electromagnetic emissions.

Far from creating a clean work environment, the tools of the information revolution have brought new problems, says Don Maisch, an expert on human effects of electromagnetic radiation. Among them, he says, is stress, leading to depression, bodily pain and sometimes a desire to strangle the boss.

Mr Maisch, a member of the Standards Australia committee that reported on exposure to electromagnetic fields, was speaking yesterday at a seminar organised by the Victorian Trades Hall Council and supported by WorkCover.

Some of the effects could be linked to prolonged exposure to electromagnetic radiation from monitors and other electrical equipment in offices, but there was also evidence that some equipment produced chemical pollutants that affected human health, including causing allergies.

Stress related to information technology could also be found in call centres, where 88 per cent of employees suffered stress, causing loss of productivity and absence from work through illness.

"The problem with (existing) standards in this area is that they address high-level effects. But it is the prolonged exposure to low-level radiation that we really do not know about," he said. "It is very hard to quantify, but it is of concern."

Mr Maisch quoted a report from the Swedish Union of Clerical and Technical Employees in Industry which said that "invisible physical and chemical pollution, and a general lack of knowledge, mean that many people are probably risking their health at work without even being aware of it".

Prolonged exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields had also been found in homes, often carried by water pipes, but also produced by "always-on" appliances such as refrigerators.

The report said almost a million Swedes had "mouse arm", strain caused by prolonged use of a computer mouse.

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