NWI ELF/EMF Occupational Health Baseline

Industrial Corridor Assessment — Hammond, Whiting, East Chicago

⚡ The Problem

The West Lake Corridor (Monon Line) opened March 31, 2026, introducing electrified rail through one of the most concentrated industrial corridors in the United States.

8.3 mi

Electrified rail

25 kV

Overhead catenary

15,000+

Workers in corridor

Baseline EMF studies

No baseline data exists on occupational ELF/EMF exposure in this corridor — before or after electrified rail activation.

🏭 The Industrial Corridor

The Hammond-Whiting-East Chicago corridor contains some of the largest industrial facilities in the Midwest:

Employer	Location	Workers	Industry
BP Whiting Refinery	Whiting	~3,500	Petroleum
Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor	Burns Harbor	~3,000	Steel
Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor	East Chicago	~4,000	Steel
Unilever	Hammond	~500	Food Mfg
Dover Chemical	Hammond	~300	Chemicals
Cargill	Hammond	~100	Grain

These facilities already have significant electrical infrastructure. The new electrified rail adds another layer of ELF/EMF exposure.

📊 Our Framework

We're not claiming EMF causes disease. We're establishing baseline data so that if concerns arise later, there's something to compare against.

This is the same logic as:

Phase I Environmental Site Assessments — baseline before property transactions
Radon testing — baseline before home purchase
Lead paint surveys — baseline in older buildings

Key distinction: We're measuring exposure, not asserting harm.

🔬 The Science

What We Know

Finding	Source
WHO/IARC classifies ELF magnetic fields as Group 2B (possibly carcinogenic)	IARC Monographs Vol. 80 (2002)
Childhood leukemia OR 1.72 at ≥0.4 µT exposure	PLOS ONE 2021 meta-analysis
Occupational burnout/depression linked to ELF-EMF	Hosseinabadi et al. 2020
Systematic review confirms occupational health impacts	Jafari et al. 2025

What We DON'T Claim

We do NOT claim EMF causes cancer in adults
We do NOT claim current exposure levels are harmful
We do NOT claim any specific disease outcomes
We do NOT seek regulatory action against any facility

📐 Methodology

What We'll Measure

ELF magnetic fields (16.7 Hz, 60 Hz, harmonics) — from rail and industrial sources
Infrasound (2–20 Hz) — from pile driving, heavy machinery, rail operations
Worker-reported outcomes — fatigue, sleep quality, well-being (validated questionnaires)

Study Design

Duration: 60 days
Sites: 5–10 small businesses near corridor
Measures: Baseline → Follow-up → Comparison
Analysis: Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, not causal inference

🎯 Benefits

For the Region

First baseline dataset
Leadership in occupational health
Replicable model

For Industry

Due diligence documentation
Proactive risk management
Worker safety leadership

For Workers

Transparency
Informed consent
Long-term monitoring foundation

🤝 The Ask

We're asking SBDC for a letter of support — not funding.

This letter would:

Endorse the pilot as a fundable economic development initiative
Note the region's unique industrial + rail exposure context
Support our application to the Purdue RF Alliance
Position us for SBIR Phase I funding ($323,090 cap)

Timeline

Phase	Timeline	Funding
SBDC Support Letter	May 2026	$0
Purdue RF Alliance Inquiry	June 2026	Equipment access
SBIR Phase I Application	Aug 2026	$323,090
Pilot Execution	Q1–Q2 2027	SBIR funds

👤 About Anthrocybernetics

Anthrocybernetics is a research office based at the Purdue Tech Center in Crown Point, Indiana, focused on:

Occupational health in industrial environments
Environmental sensing and monitoring
Human-systems integration

We've developed EMF sensing technology capable of measuring time-varying magnetic fields with high precision — the core instrumentation for this pilot.

📄 Documents

One-Page Summary Support Letter Draft Corridor Profile Fact Check Report

NWI ELF/EMF Occupational Health Baseline | Hammond-Whiting-East Chicago Industrial Corridor | May 26, 2026