# NWI ELF/EMF Occupational Health Pilot — One-Page Brief

### NW Indiana SBDC × Purdue research path | Hammond / Unilever / West Lake Corridor | May 26, 2026

This pilot asks whether measured ELF magnetic fields and low-frequency noise conditions in Hammond workplaces justify a low-cost follow-on study of worker health and productivity. Keep the claims narrow: measure first, separate cancer-risk evidence from symptom evidence, and do not overstate causation.

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## The ask

We are asking the SBDC for a support letter to Purdue Research Foundation Alliances, describing the project as a regional economic-development and workforce-protection pilot for Hammond-area small businesses.

## Why this matters now

South Shore Line says Monon Corridor service on the West Lake Corridor opened on March 31, 2026, and Unilever operates the Hammond Dove Bar Soap Factory in Hammond.[^1][^2] The pitch is framed around protecting small-business workforce attendance and productivity.

## The pilot in one sentence

Measure ELF magnetic fields and low-frequency noise at 8–10 Hammond small businesses, pair that with anonymous worker-reported fatigue and absence data, and use Purdue research support to see whether a simple mitigation is worth studying further.

## What we are measuring

- **ELF magnetic fields / non-ionizing EMF baseline**: EMF here means the broader non-ionizing category, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and power systems; the pilot itself focuses on ELF magnetic fields from power systems, while UV and X-rays are different, ionizing categories.[^3][^4]
- **Low-frequency noise / infrasound**: the acoustic component measured alongside the corridor setting.[^5][^6]
- **Business outcomes**: anonymous fatigue check-ins, absenteeism, and task disruption where the business agrees to share them.

## What we are not claiming

- We are **not** claiming EMF is ionizing radiation.
- We are **not** claiming cancer causation from this pilot.
- We are **not** claiming symptom effects are proven; the evidence is mixed and site-specific.
- We are **not** presenting phase inversion as a proven product or therapy. If used at all, it is only an exploratory HYPOTHESIS to test for the acoustic component.
- We are **not** making wellness, spiritual, or consciousness claims.

## Why the SBDC should care

This is a small-business workforce project, not a medical clinic project. If the baseline shows a meaningful local exposure pattern, the outcome is grant-ready: it can support follow-on NIH SEED SBIR/STTR work and, if the regional-development angle fits, EDA's Planning and Local Technical Assistance program.[^7][^8]

## One sentence for Frank Mrvan’s staff

“We want to protect Hammond small businesses by measuring whether the new corridor environment is associated with a local exposure baseline that affects attendance and performance, using existing Purdue research infrastructure to produce a clean, fundable dataset.”

## Bottom line

The pitch is simple: **measure first, keep the claims narrow, and make the result useful to Hammond employers.**

[^1]: https://mysouthshoreline.com/cmonon-corridor-service-commencement-march-31-2026
[^2]: https://careers.unilever.com/en/job/hammond/safety-health-and-environmental-engineer/34155/92927211504
[^3]: https://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/radiation-and-health/non-ionizing/exposure
[^4]: https://publications.iarc.who.int/Book-And-Report-Series/Iarc-Monographs-On-The-Identification-Of-Carcinogenic-Hazards-To-Humans/Non-ionizing-Radiation-Part-1-Static-And-Extremely-Low-frequency-ELF-Electric-And-Magnetic-Fields-2002
[^5]: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.065
[^6]: https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP10757
[^7]: https://seed.nih.gov/small-business-funding/find-funding/sbir-sttr-funding-opportunities
[^8]: https://sfgrants.eda.gov/s/funding-program/a2j3d0000000KndAAE/planning-and-local-technical-assistance