ETAIN - Exposure to Electromagnetic FIelds and Planetary Health

The ETAIN (Exposure To electromAgnetic fIelds and plaNetary health) project takes a planetary health perspective to develop and validate approaches to assess the impact of existing and novel wireless technologies. Within ETAIN, an open-access RF-EMF exposure app for smartphones is being designed using a Citizen Science approach. The goal is for the app to derive relevant RF-EMF exposure parameters so that the users can understand the distribution of their exposure and how it varies depending on time, location, and wireless sources. In addition, information from the app will be used for dose modelling and to map the RF-EMF exposure levels across Europe.

ETAIN will also develop and validate network architecture approaches for an “ALARA by design” approach. ETAIN will elucidate underlying mechanisms of biological effects in humans and the environment. We will focus on human skin and eyes as relevant biological targets of 5G and beyond, and a systems biology approach to evaluate possible effects. Additional efforts focus on insect biodiversity and fitness, especially pollinators at risk of peak exposures close to strong antennas, such as bees. From a planetary health perspective, RF-EMF effects on insects may also have indirect effects on human health and the economy (e.g. via pollination). ETAIN is expected to generate scientific evidence of RF-EMF exposure effects on human, ecosystem and planetary health, feeding into policies and current regulatory frameworks. Project ETAIN is part of the European cluster on EMFs and health (https://www.emf-health-cluster.eu/).

The ETAIN project website (https://www.etainproject.eu/) informs about new results and opportunity to contribute and shape ETAIN’s research as a citizen.