Note: This study found no significant biological effects under its experimental conditions. We include all studies for scientific completeness.
Do signals of a hand-held TETRA transmitter affect cognitive performance, well-being, mood or somatic complaints in healthy young men? Results of a randomized double-blind cross-over provocation study.
Sauter C, Eggert T, Dorn H, Schmid G, Bolz T, Marasanov A, Hansen ML, Peter A, Danker-Hopfe H · 2015
View Original AbstractShort-term TETRA radio exposure showed no cognitive impairment in healthy men, but this doesn't address chronic, multi-frequency EMF exposure.
Plain English Summary
German researchers exposed 30 healthy young men to TETRA radio signals (used by emergency services) for 2.5 hours at two different power levels to test effects on thinking abilities and well-being. They found no negative impacts on cognitive performance, mood, or physical complaints, with some measures actually showing slight improvement during exposure. This suggests short-term exposure to TETRA signals at these levels doesn't impair mental function in healthy adults.
Why This Matters
This study adds to our understanding of how specific radio frequency exposures affect cognitive function, though it has important limitations. The researchers tested TETRA signals at SAR levels of 1.5 and 6.0 W/kg - the higher level being three times the current regulatory limit for cell phones (2.0 W/kg). While the lack of negative effects might seem reassuring, this was a short-term study lasting just 2.5 hours in healthy young men. The reality is that real-world EMF exposure is chronic and occurs across multiple frequencies simultaneously, not just isolated TETRA signals. What this means for you is that while this particular study didn't find harm from brief TETRA exposure, it doesn't address the broader question of long-term, multi-source EMF exposure that characterizes modern life.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 1.5 and 6 W/kg
- Source/Device
- TETRA 385 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- 2.5 h
Exposure Context
This study used 1.5 and 6 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 3.8x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.4 W/kg
Building Biology guidelines are practitioner-based limits from real-world assessments. BioInitiative Report recommendations are based on peer-reviewed science. Check Your Exposure to compare your own measurements.
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
To investigate possible acute effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) of two different levels of TETRA hand-held transmitter signals on cognitive function and well-being in healthy young males.
In the present double-blind cross-over study possible effects of short-term (2.5 h) EMF exposure of ...
Attention remained unchanged in two out of three tasks. In the working memory significant changes we...
The results of the present study do not indicate a negative impact of a short-term EMF-effect of TETRA on cognitive function and well-being in healthy young men.
Show BibTeX
@article{c_2015_do_signals_of_a_2805,
author = {Sauter C and Eggert T and Dorn H and Schmid G and Bolz T and Marasanov A and Hansen ML and Peter A and Danker-Hopfe H},
title = {Do signals of a hand-held TETRA transmitter affect cognitive performance, well-being, mood or somatic complaints in healthy young men? Results of a randomized double-blind cross-over provocation study.},
year = {2015},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935115000997},
}