Stay radiation safe!

Over twenty minutes of contact between the human ear and mobile phone while
on a call can lead to a 2 degree increase in the temperature of blood flowing
through a user's brain. Only one-fifth of the national capital lies in the
radiation safe zone, but the telecom lobby in India still feels that all is
well.

The fear of possible ill-effects of electromagnetic frequency (EMF) radiation
from cell phones and towers on human life has begun haunting the Indian mobile
consumers. As the Indian telcos refuse to accept that there can be any adverse
effect of these radiations, the mobile service users are lost in lurch exploring
solutions that could guard them. There are a range of products in the market
that claim to be anti-radiation, powered to repel these effects; but there are
few takers for these solutions.

Experts say that the market for these products is equivalent to the Indian
mobile subscriber base-about 600 mn units. This perhaps could be a business
opportunity which the telecom equipment makers have not explored yet.

The matter about the EMF radiation from tower and cellphones is split between
two broad groups. One is the strong lobby of the telecommunications industry.
The Cellular Operators Association of India has gone on record saying that the
base stations have no health hazards. On the other end are the people who claim
to have suffered medical problems due to prolonged exposure to electromagnetic
radiations from the cell towers; and the anti radiation product manufacturers
who say that the human health could be under serious threat due to these
radiations.

Products

The verdict on radiation impact may not be out, but there are reports and
case studies that tell mobile radiation can do quite a lot. About a third of
Sweden's population is electro-sensitive; one of the reasons for this is said to
be the long term exposure to EMF radiating products, including mobile phones.

IIT Mumbai professor, Girish Kumar, an electromagnetic expert has invented a
product called Radiationshield. The product is claimed to be capable of reducing
the effect by 70% to 90% and comes with a five year exchange warranty. The
professor is set to file a patent for his innovation which he came up with in
2008.

The professor explains that the device consists of two orthogonally polarized
broadband antennas capable of covering the frequency range between 800 MHz and
4.0 GHz. The antennae receives radiation from all sources such as cell phones,
mobile phone towers, wireless phones, computers, laptops, microwave ovens, 3G
and WiMax systems and converts it into heat energy. A light emitting diode (LED)
has also been included on the shield that glows without a battery when brought
near a mobile phone or a cell tower, indicating the power of the radiation.

The technology has now been transferred to the Indian manufacturer, RS
Equipment which is now undertaking the mass production of the product that is
available in two models. One that can be kept on the desktop and the other which
can be carried in the pocket. The desktop model costs about Rs 1,449 and the
other one is a thin low cost option priced at Rs 720.

However, according to Kumar only 1,000 units of the shield have been sold so
far. There are other products in the market for much lesser amount varying
between Rs 250 to Rs 400. These are the anti-radiation chips that can be stuck
on the handsets to absorb radiation.

Indian Scenario

“In India, as of now it is the consumer who shoulders the lone
responsibility of guarding himself against the radiation. There is no awareness
generated either from the government's or the telecom regulator's end. These
companies that produce such anti-radiation solutions are very small and can
spend little on marketing the products; thus, these products can only be sold
through the word of mouth publicity,” professor says.

Kumar, who designs antennae for leading operators in the country, has
discussed about the radiation impact and the solutions with service providers,
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and Telecom Engineering Center (TEC). But,
talks have not yielded any result.

Dr Krishnamurthy Kannan is the CEO of Chennai based Portoworld that offers
import-export and domestic support services to the business community across the
world and India in particular. Krishnamurthy's company also manufactures a
product called Radisafe, an anti-radiation chip that can be stuck to the handset
to absorb radiation.

Radisafe is a year and a half old product. Portoworld exports these chips to
fifteen countries, but India has been the most negative in responding to these
radiation harmonizing products.

“Cellular operators have a strong lobby and they will never admit the
severity of the condition. In India, prevention does not work. Your ear must
bleed, only then will a solution be thought of,” says Dr Krishnamurthy, adding
that the company sells about 40,000 units of Radisafe per month which is too low
a number to cover the cellular subscriber base in India.

Such anti-radiation products in India are being manufactured by either very
small companies or being imported.

NK Goyal, chairman, Telecom Equipment Manufacturers' Association says, “These
products are nothing but an eyewash, a way to fool the consumers. These products
may make tall claims, but they have low credibility. They do not bear
certification from agencies such as the Telecom Engineering Center (TEC).”

In case of handsets, the amount of radiation absorbed by body while using a
cellphone can be measured by SAR (specific absorption rate) calculated in watts
per kilogram (W/kg). Higher the SAR rating, more the radiation absorbed.

The telecom lobby vehemently opposes the proposal to specify SAR levels of
the handsets to the consumers.

The Trai has proposed radiation exposure limits for mobile phone towers.
Also, a committee of the TEC-the technical arm of the DoT-has been set up to
study issues related to the implementation of the International Commission on
Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines in India.

The effectivity and credibility of these products may be dubious, the
agencies like the TEC should should

Heena Jhingan

heenaj@cybermedia.co.in