A chemical haze created for Olafur Eliasson's spectacular apocalyptic installation, the Weather Project - which has provoked near-religious awe in the crowds flocking to see it in the museum's Turbine Hall - is slowly creeping into the galleries. Attendants, who have to spend from eight to 12 hours in the fug, claim they are becoming disorientated.
Tate Modern's new director, Vicente Todoli, admitted that the Danish artist's work, a giant Wagnerian, smog-coloured sun, adrift in a yellow mist, had a "curious hallucinogenic quality ... It's very trippy, but we have put nothing more illegal than sugar and water in the air".
Eliasson said he wanted to undercut religious reactions to the piece, by showing the effect created when the public walk behind the giant sun. Whatever the work's effects on its viewers, the sugary mist, made from glycol, is harmless, the artist and the Tate insist.
But an internal risk assessment report leaked to the Guardian warns that some visitors may feel unwell and advises that those who do should immediately be taken out into the fresh air. The staff, already twitchy after a series of power cuts at the gallery, are upset that no such precautions are being taken with them.
Last night a Tate spokeswoman said the chemical concoction had been used safely in nightclubs for years.
"Tate undertook extensive consultation and research in relation to the Olafur Eliasson installation," she said.
"The haze is used safely in nightclubs throughout the world. The installation is contained within level 1 and 2 of Tate Modern. The environmental control system throughout the rest of the building ensures that the haze does not infiltrate gallery space."
