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Symptoms & Sensitivity

Do TETRA (Airwave) base station signals have a short-term impact on health and well-being? A randomized double-blind provocation study.2

No Effects Found

Wallace D, Eltiti S, Ridgewell A, Garner K, Russo R, Sepulveda F, Walker S, Quinlan T, Dudley S, Maung S, Deeble R, Fox E. · 2012

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TETRA radio signals caused no detectable health effects in double-blind testing, suggesting electromagnetic sensitivity symptoms stem from awareness rather than exposure.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers tested whether TETRA radio signals (used by UK police and emergency services) cause health symptoms in people who report being sensitive to electromagnetic fields. When participants didn't know whether they were exposed to real or fake signals, neither the sensitive individuals nor control subjects showed any physical or psychological effects from TETRA exposure. However, when people knew they might be exposed, those claiming sensitivity reported feeling worse, suggesting their symptoms stem from worry about EMF rather than the signals themselves.

Study Details

We conducted a randomized double-blind provocation study to establish whether short-term exposure to a TETRA base station signal has an impact on the health and well-being of individuals with self-reported "electrosensitivity" and of participants who served as controls.

Fifty-one individuals with self-reported electrosensitivity and 132 age- and sex-matched controls pa...

We found no differences on any measure between TETRA and sham (no signal) under double-blind conditi...

Our findings suggest that the adverse symptoms experienced by electrosensitive individuals are due to the belief of harm from TETRA base stations rather than to the low-level EMF exposure itself.

Cite This Study
Wallace D, Eltiti S, Ridgewell A, Garner K, Russo R, Sepulveda F, Walker S, Quinlan T, Dudley S, Maung S, Deeble R, Fox E. (2012). Do TETRA (Airwave) base station signals have a short-term impact on health and well-being? A randomized double-blind provocation study.2 Environ Health Perspect. 118(6):735-741, 2012.
Show BibTeX
@article{d_2012_do_tetra_airwave_base_3483,
  author = {Wallace D and Eltiti S and Ridgewell A and Garner K and Russo R and Sepulveda F and Walker S and Quinlan T and Dudley S and Maung S and Deeble R and Fox E.},
  title = {Do TETRA (Airwave) base station signals have a short-term impact on health and well-being? A randomized double-blind provocation study.2},
  year = {2012},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20075020/},
}
PubMed: 20075020

Cited By (44 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

No, TETRA radio signals used by UK police and emergency services don't cause health problems. A 2012 double-blind study found that people claiming electromagnetic sensitivity showed no physical or psychological effects when exposed to TETRA signals without knowing it.
No, people cannot detect TETRA base station signals. In controlled testing, neither electromagnetically sensitive individuals nor control subjects could identify when TETRA signals were present at rates better than random chance (50%).
People feel worse around TETRA towers due to psychological factors, not the radio signals themselves. When participants knew they might be exposed to TETRA signals, those claiming sensitivity reported worse symptoms, suggesting worry causes their discomfort.
Yes, knowing about potential EMF exposure worsens symptoms in people claiming electromagnetic sensitivity. The TETRA study showed participants only reported feeling worse when they knew they might be exposed, not during blind exposure conditions.
No, TETRA Airwave radio health complaints aren't based on real exposure effects. Research demonstrates that adverse symptoms experienced by electromagnetically sensitive individuals stem from belief of harm rather than actual low-level EMF exposure from TETRA stations.