CITY MUMBAI M IRROR | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 , 2008 3

KU N A L GU H A

For those worried about the possi-ble health hazards of radiationfrom cellphone towers after theflood of media reports on the is-

sue, an IIT professor brings a small boxof hope. Prof Girish Kumar from theElectrical Engineering Department atIIT Bombay has invented a devicecalled ‘Radiation Shield’, which he sayscan absorb electro-magnetic radiation(transmitted from nearby cellphonetowers) when placed anywhere in aroom.

A study reported by this paper a cou-ple of months ago measured danger-ously high levels of electromagnetic ra-diation from cellphone towers at sev-eral key spots in the city.

Kumar’s invention, that looks like avideo cassette box standing vertically,is said to reduce radiation levels by atleast 50 per cent when placed any-where in the room. Kumar says, “Peo-ple don’t understand how cellphoneradiation damages one’s health. That’sbecause one cannot see, feel or smell itand it is a slow killer.”

Kumar’s Radiation Shield is a pas-sive device that has multiple antennasthat absorb radiation from all direc-tions and dump it into the load insidethe unit. The frequency range that thisdevice is capable of absorbing is be-tween 800 megahertz and 4000 mega-hertz and has a tested efficiency of 90per cent.

According to Kumar’s study, peopleresiding 50 metres from any cell towerare exposed to a million times strongersignal than required for normal cell-phone usage. Kumar says, “Each cell-phone tower is required to span anarea of several kilometres, so the radi-ation blast is maximum within a 100-metre radius around each tower. Peo-ple residing in this field unknowinglybecome potential victims of the radi-ation onslaught.”

Countries like the United States andUK have regulation against having celltowers within 50 metres from any res-idential area. India presently has 1.5lakh cellphone towers and anothertwo lakh towers are planned in thenext two years. And given the densely-populated metros here, it is easy toimagine how many people live withinthe deadly radiation zone.

Author of Broadband Microstrip An-tennas, Kumar has been working inthe field of antennas for the last 30years. Kumar admits that he is not amedical professional and is not an ex-pert on the biological effects of radia-tion. But the thermal aspect of radia-tion is entirely his sphere. He explains,“Radiation transmitted from cellphonetowers is similar to that of microwaveenergy. So, just like a microwave firstheats liquids in food items kept insideit, radiation is also attracted to liquids and the human body compris-es 70 per cent liquid.”

The thermal effects of radiation are

Box-sized solution to a towering problem

said to be most pronounced in areas in the bodythat have stagnant liquids like eyes, arms, shoul-ders, thighs etc. And easy targets of this deadlywave would be children and pregnant womenwho have a higher volume of liquid in theirbody than others.

Kumar believes that two of his RadiationShields when placed in a room of 150 square feetwould effectively control the radiation level. Ku-mar plans to retail this device for Rs 1,449 andwill extend a 5-year warrantee with each piece.

For more details on the radiation shield go tohttp://www.wilcom.co.in

IIT professor invents device called Radiation Shield, for those living close to cellphone towers, which reduces radiation levels in a room by at least 50 per cent

Prof Girish Kumar with the Radiation Shield.(Right) A cell phone tower on top of a building

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