Novel applications of wireless communications technology continue to see extremely rapid growth, ranging from mobile phones and virtual reality to industry automation and the Internet of Things. In spite of the explosion in uses, comparatively little is known about the potential impacts of such technologies on human health.

Thanks to funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme, a five-year project called GOLIAT (“5G expOsure, causaL effects, and rIsk perception through citizen engAgemenT”) will bring together researchers from 24 institutions across the world to better understand the potential health effects related to wireless tech.

Researchers at the University of Exeter join a transdisciplinary team led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, together aiming to better understand exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF), in particular 5G, to provide insights into potential effects on health and biological systems, and to understand risk perception and communication. Researchers working on GOLIAT are experts in the fields of radiation epidemiology, environmental psychology, exposure science, science communication and public engagement.

The research will focus on two groups thought to be potentially vulnerable to any effects of RF-EMF, young people and those exposed through their work. As well as employing health impact assessment modelling techniques to better understand the magnitude of any risks to health of young people and workers, the team at Exeter will also lead in the use of ‘mental models’ to better understand the way that European populations perceive risks to RF-EMF in general and 5G in particular.

The University of Exeter researchers working on the GOLIAT project are based at the European Centre for the Environment and Human Health in Truro.