Research

Project Title:

Hypersensitivity Symptoms Associated with Electromagnetic Field Exposure to TETRA base stations

Start Date:

01/01/07

Expected Date of Completion:

31/12/08

Cost:

£318,000

Principal Investigator:

Professor Elaine Fox

Contact Details:

Electromagnetics & Health Research Laboratory
Dept of Psychology
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park
Colchester
CO4 3SQ

Project Team:

Denise Wallace
Kelly Garner
Anna Ridgewell
Professor Riccardo Russo
Professor S Walker
Dr Paul Rasor
Dr Francisco Sepulveda

Expertise:

The principal investigator is Professor Elaine Fox, who is an expert in experimental psychology, and the group is based at the University of Essex. The group includes Professor Riccardo Russo, an expert in experimental psychology, Dr Francsico Sepulveda, an expert in biomedical engineering and Dr Paul Rasor, a senior medical practitioner. The group is a multidisciplinary one with expertise in experimental and health psychology, electronic and biomedical engineering, as well as medicine.

Approach:

The experiment will be a double-blind experiment, in which people scoring high on the EHS Symptoms scale (i.e., electro-hypersensitive people) and those scoring low on the EHS scale (i.e., control group) will be tested both in the presence of an electromagnetic field similar to that of a TETRA base-station, as well as when the base-station is turned off. A wide range of psychological, physiological, and health measures will be taken under both conditions.

Difficulties:

We anticipate that their will be difficulties in recruiting the number of cases required who report hypersensitivity to electromagnetic fields.

Importance:

There are limited scientifically well controlled studies that have looked at the impact of TETRA on human heath. This study will recruit a significant number of people so that firm conclusions may be drawn at the end of the study.