Have you been undergoing bouts of lethargy at work or at home lately? Do you feel your memory has started playing tricks with you? Are you getting constant headaches, nausea, eye-throat-nose irritation or breathing troubles? If your answer is 'yes', chances are that you may be suffering from what is known as the 'sick building syndrome'.

Not many people are aware that the nail-polish remover they use could be the cause for their diminished mental capacity, or that the batteries from their personal stereos are slowly discharging poisonous mercury into the air, M A Aziz, an associate professor at the department of civil engineering in Singapore's National University, says, "Air inside a building can be laden with a witch's brew of chemicals, gases, smokes, odours, fumes, micro-organisms and other pollutants sometimes in concentrations high enough to pose serious threats to health." Some of the worst offenders are photocopying machines and other electrical equipment (emitting ozone), solvent cleaners like paint or paint thinners (sources of benzene), carpets and plastic products (sources of styrene), insect sprays, mothballs, floor waxes, aerosol (spray cleaners), oven and window cleaners, air fresheners and insulation foams and disinfectants (formaldehyde sources). Even the innocuous bricks and walls of some houses shelter and emit gases like radon; paints containing asbestos and asbestos-insulated walls also lead to polluted air.

These pollutants, besides causing irritation of eyes, lungs and throats and retarding mental capacity, can act as catalysts for asthma attacks, and scientists believe that they may even lead to accelerated growth of tumours. Says Harsh Jatli, an environment researcher from the New Delhi-based Participatory Research in Asia, "Indian consumers are not always told how dangerous some of the products they use are,B With the recent emergence of a multitude of electronic gadgetry and a growing consumer market for household cleaners, insecticides and cosmetics, it seems getting a breath of fresh air has become a difficult task. whether you are outdoors or indoors.