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I have a "paper pusher" type of job myself. Someday, I hope to be glorified.
It's hard to judge without knowing what kinds of chemicals were involved (I've had some exposure to a form of silicone and it didn't bother me, but probably more different chemicals are used in an actual fantasy). Certainly that kind of work should be done in a well-ventilated area. If it wasn't well-ventilated, a headache wouldn't be surprising.
From my own experience I wouldn't recommend calling in sick for a headache unless it's a severe one, but it would be worth mentioning to your boss that you had a headache and that you think it was related to the chemicals. If it's a decent company they'll try to avoid a recurrence of it.
Office work is a mixed bag, unfortunately. The important thing is to have good co-workers and management. If you have that, everything else is manageable.
That should have been "factory", not "fantasy". Maybe there's a chemical here affecting my brain. 
Today is my one year anniversary. I didn't think I would have survived it a month into it last year. I'm exposed to shit like the swine flu, all other flus and colds, it's gross. Good thing I'm healthy!! I think that when you're hired to do a job, and you agree and are okay with your job description, they don't really have a right to put you in a situation that you feel is bad for your health or makes you uncomfortable. I'm so sorry that you had to do that. I would have asked for a mask and a hazmat suit to do that!!
Hugs!!
INFIDEL: Glorified, indeed. LOL I think my problem was I've seen some of the chemicals on the list. Silicone itself is inert, if I'm not mistaken...but there are other chemicals at the plant that give me the heebie jeebies. When it has a health label of a "2*C" on it, the C means cancer. Still, I found out today my own boss was pretty cheesed about it too. The order came from a higher up.
And hahahahaha, you said fantasy. what chemicals are those, I want some. jk
GEM happy one year anniversary. Yeah, at your job, I'd be OCD with the hand sanitizer.
I felt like asking for the hazmat suit. I'm kind of over it now. What I didn't mention before was, I didn't like getting dismissed by the manager and the supervisor, (neither are my boss) when I asked for gloves, because I didn't want to touch the dirty guys uniforms. They both smirked at me. I wanted to yell at them and say, go, go home to your wives and ask THEM if they'd do what they asked me to do. I'd LOVE to what they'd have to say.
At the VERY least, you should have been given prior notification of this job duty so you could have prepared both physically and mentally. You are by no means being a "prima donna"---no one wants to be stuck doing a shitty job like that especially when it wasn't part of the original job description. I can only hope that this job "rotates" among the other office workers....if not, I think you should demand Hazmat pay.
Hand sanitizer is not a bad idea. It's not useful against chemicals, of course, but it is for other things. Where I work, many people have that revolting habit of licking a fingertip before leafing through a stack of paper -- which they then hand to you. It's no wonder that lost work hours during the cold-and-flu season are higher than at other places where I've worked.
(On the whole this is actually a good place to work. Nothing is perfect, however.)
One of the problems with an office job is that you're spending a lot of time in an environment where you have a lot less control over hygiene than you do at home. Precautions are in order.
I order supplies, so I ordered "sortqwik" just so I don't have to lick my fingers for page duty.
Our plant has three shifts and lately I'm paraniod about who's in the office using MY phone for phone calls. But I don't want to turn into an obsessive germaphobe.
Sarah, it turns out this was a one time thing. Hubs told an HR gal at his work and she said it sounds like a case of sexual harassment - okay stay with me here, this is a stretch, but kind of believeable - she said because I was a woman, going thru the laundry was woman's work in the man who assigned me the job, therefore, harassment.
Huh, huh, you think I gotta case???
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