Shield Yourself From Cellphone Radiation - NESA Interview in Entrepreneurindia.com - Oct 2013 issue

The adverse effects of mobile phone radiation on human health are no longer hidden. Cellphone radiation is known to cause cancer and genetic mutation over continued exposure.

Neha Kumar, Director, Nesa Radiation Solutions Pvt Ltd, in an interview with SMEntrepreneur elaborates on how she has undertaken a unique measure to shield individuals from cellphone tower radiation.

What are the kinds of health hazards that most urban dwellers are exposed to due to cellphone radiation?
There are two kinds of electromagnetic radiation emanating from mobile phones and towers. The thermal effects, which occur on holding the phone closely over a long period of time causes headache, sleep disturbance, memory loss, lack of concentration, tinnitus (ringing in the ears) along with increasing risk of brain cancer. Non-thermal effects relate to the damages that occur on the genes, cells and human DNA. Mobile towers present in the vicinity can cause such non-thermal effects including infertility, miscarriage, neurodegenerative disorders (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc), heart problems and cancer.

What made you start to an initiative to shield individuals from this hazardous radiation?
After graduating, I started researching on the health impact of cellphone tower radiations and met people living close to these towers. We interacted with government officials, educational institutions, medical professionals and residential societies about potential problems that could be triggered by continued exposure to high levels of cellphone tower radiation.

Initially, we focussed on pushing the government to bring down norms but when people started asking us for solutions, we decided to develop shielding solutions. We developed three solutions in the form of window film, curtains and wallpaper that can reduce radiation levels by 90-99 per cent.

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.

Are your products available on a pan-Indian scale?
We have our offices in Bhandup, Mumbai and Vashi in Navi Mumbai as of now and have been handling outstation orders from here. Our team visits other cities based on the number of enquires on regular intervals.

What is the mode of operation for your products?
Our 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 paper can effectively block 95-99 percent of radiation and it is necessary for those living close to a mobile phone tower.

What is your target market?
We target people living in close proximity (within 300 meters or more) to mobile phone towers where radiation levels are high.

Are you the sole entrepreneur who is working in this cellphone radiation shielding space or do you have potential competitors?
We are the only ones who are using absorptive technology for reducing radiation levels and our products have shielding effectiveness of 95-99 per cent. There are other companies abroad that also have shielding solutions.

How many products have you sold till date? What has been your turnover and growth rate?
In the last one year, the company has clocked in revenues of Rs one crore. We are going to continue marketing our product through word of mouth and are looking at setting up a physical distribution chain.

Who all have been on your investor list giving significant boost to your enterprise?
We self-funded NESA with Rs five lakh and have raised investment of Rs one crore from our raw material vendor, Chirag Vadilal Savla, in exchange for 50 per cent stake in the start up. Chirag has been involved in the furnishing business for past several years and is now a partner in the business. He also helps NESA with manufacturing at our unit in Vashi. He has played a big role in shaping our products and in improving the aesthetics of the products.

How has the Indian Government reacted to your shielding techniques?
We started creating awareness and wrote to several telecom and government officials to reduce the radiation norms. They were not ready to immediately look into this matter. It was only after continued research followed by positive feedback from user that 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.

http://www.entrepreneurindia.com/interview/start-up/techpreneur/Shield-Yourself-From-Cellphone-Radiation-199/