Neha Kumar, founder, NESA, take up cudgels against radiation hazards

Neha Kumar from Mumbai developed solutions which can reduce radiation levels by 90-99% in the form of window film, curtains and wallpaper. Young and raing to go, Neha is determined to create awareness on the harmful effects of radiations

The adverse effects from electromagnetic radiation emitted from cell phone towers are no longer hidden. From headache, sleep disturbance to memory loss, hearing problems, the degree of health hazards rising from cell phone tower radiation can even move upto cancer, heart problems, neurodegenerative disorder, infertility, miscarriage, and many more.

Indian Government has not taken active measures to counter the effects of such radiation. It was only in the year 2008 that the government adopted radiation norms specified by International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines of 1998. However, ICNIRP guideline is outdated as it is only intended to protect the public against short term gross heating effects and not against ‘biological' effects.

Braving against such a critical issue is Neha Kumar. Based out of Mumbai, she transformed her research experience into an entrepreneurial venture to safeguard the society against such hazards. She founded Nesa Radiation Solutions (NESA stands for Non- Ionizing Electromagnetic Radiation Shielding Alternatives), which carries out radiation measurement and has cell tower radiation measurement products as well as several radiation shielding products.

How it all started?

It started on a personal note. Neha's father Prof Girish Kumar from IIT Bombay had been working in the field of Antennas and Microwaves for past 30 years and faced health problems in 2001, the cause of which was continuous exposure to electromagnetic radiation and he started working on it around that time.


After Neha finished her B Tech in Biotechnology from Anna University in 2009, she started studying the biological effects of cell phone/ tower radiation during which she also interacted with researchers, doctors, patients in India and abroad. "People living in nearby areas to towers started contacting us for measuring the radiation levels and we found a strong correlation between high radiation levels and health problems ranging from mild to even grave health problems-cases of miscarriage, infertility and cancer at levels much below the government guidelines," said Neha Kumar.

"People started asking us to develop a solution to the problem and we started working on that front. We also developed a simple, effective and low-cost radiation monitor which we named DETEX 189 to enable people to check levels from health point of view. With more awareness we could motivate the Government of India to bring down the radiation level to 450 from 4500 milliWatt (mW) per square meter. However, this is still way above the safe level of 0.1," added Neha.

NESA's technology and products

Neha developed three solutions which can reduce radiation levels by 90-99% in the form of window film, curtains and wallpaper. For detection, NESA came up with a low cost, simple and easy to use Cell Tower Radiation Detector, DETEX 189 based on the health recommendation for continuous exposure.

The technology works with an antenna behind each product that receives cellphone tower signals and converts it to heat energy, through an AC (alternating current) to DC (direct current) adapter. The heat generated is mild to the tune of 0.0001 degree centigrade which then dissipates into the environment. The curtains and wall papers can effectively block 95-99% of radiation and it is necessary for those living close to a mobile phone tower.

Customer Reception
In the last one year, NESA has clocked in revenues of `1 crore. "We are going to continue marketing our product through word of mouth and are looking at setting up a physical distribution chain," added Neha.

Funding Challenge

NESA was self funded with `5 lakh and have raised investment of `1 crore from its raw material vendor, Chirag Vadilal Savla, in exchange for 50% stake in the startup.

Days Ahead

Neha is constantly working on developing better products both efficiency wise as well as concerning aesthetics since these products are used in residences and offices. She is also working on mobile phone shielding and aprons for pregnant woman, quilts and shielding clothing for young and elderly.

Link: http://www.dqchannels.com/dq-channels/news/204107/anti-radiation-crusader