Nationwide Conference Call to BLOCK a New Bil that MANDATES SMART GRID in the US...

Nationwide Conference Call to BLOCK a New Bil that MANDATES SMART GRID in the US...

From: Liz Barris 

Hello All,

A new and VERY DANGEROUS bill has just been introduced conspicuously by a representative from PG@E territory.  It is called "Smart Grid Advancement Act of 2013", HR 2685.

Your participation is requested on a nationwide conference call this Fri., July 19th, 12 noon Pacific time (3:00 Eastern time) to help stop this disastrous bill from becoming reality.  Please email contact@thepeoplesinitiative.org to receive the call in number. 

Full text of the bill can be read here...

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr2685

This bill MANDATES that ALL UTILITIES within the US comply with it.  Meaning even utilities that currently do not have smart grid will have to convert to smart grid if this bill passes.  

We believe the timely introduction of this bill may be in direct response to the current lawsuits being brought against the utilities as it has been introduced in PG@E territory, almost one month after PG@E was served with 6 cases of physical harm, directly related to smart grid and smart meters. 

Passage of this bill could potentially interfere with ours and others ability to sue the utilities on this issue.  That could be devastating to the public's ability to stop this horrific program.  The bill would in effect, become the "Telecom Act" for smart grid.  For those who do not know, the Telecom Act prohibits environmental effects from being used by citizens in a court of law to protect their own health in regards to cell towers and antenna radiation exposure.  That means that people who become sick or die from their exposure to cell towers and antennas cannot take action in court.  In other words the cell tower has more of a right to life than the human being.  This bill could potentially mimic the Telecom Act but for smart grid and smart meters since the meters could be considered to be a part of the grid.

Here are some excerpts from the bill, compliments www.stopocsmartmeters.org.  Red is bill language, blue is commentary by Maureen Homec.

1.  Section 2 (4) defines Load-serving entity as an entity that "provides electricity directly to retail consumers with the responsibility to assure power quality and reliability, including such entities that are investor-owned, publicly owned, owned by rural electric cooperatives, or other entities."  In other words:  ALL ELECTRICITY PROVIDERS.

2.  Section 5 (a) says "each load-serving entity, or, at the option of the State, each State with respect to load-serving entities that the State regulates, shall determine and publish peak demand reduction goals for any load-serving entities that have an applicable baseline in excess of 250 megawatts."  In other words every provider has to reduce the amount of electricity provided.

3.  Section 5 (c)(4) says that "...peak demand reduction goals shall provide that..." "...are realistically achievable with an aggressive effort to deploy Smart Grid"

4.  Section 5 (d) says Each load-serving entity shall prepare a peak demand reduction plan through either/and "direct reduction in megawatts of peak demand through "energy efficiency measures  or use of a Smart Grid.  HOW ELSE CAN A UTILITY MEET THESE REDUCTION GOALS UNLESS THEY CAN FORCE IT THROUGH RATIONING AND PRICE INCREASES WITH THE SMART GRID?

5.  Section 6 changes key wording in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.  Wording changes:

"striking ‘reduce energy consumption during the 4-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act’ and inserting ‘increase energy efficiency and to adopt Smart Grid technology and practices’."

"inserting after subparagraph (C) the following: ‘(D) purchasing and utilizing equipment that includes Smart Grid features and capability' "

"by inserting ‘and smart’ after ‘efficient’ and by inserting after ‘products’ the first place it appears ‘, including products designated as being smart appliances’."

(6) PEAK DEMAND REDUCTION- The term ‘peak demand reduction’ means the reduction in annual peak demand as compared to a previous baseline year or period, expressed in megawatts (MW), whether accomplished by--

(A) diminishing the end-use requirements for electricity; RATIONING AND PRICE INCREASES

(B) use of locally stored energy or generated electricity to meet those requirements from distributed resources on the load-serving entity’s customers’ premises and without use of high-voltage transmission; or

(C) energy savings from efficient operation of the distribution grid resulting from the use of a Smart Grid.

Interview with the Swedish EMF-expert Professor Olle Johansson

Interview with the Swedish EMF-expert Professor Olle Johansson

Please, see this new article ["Interview with the Swedish EMF-expert Professor Olle Johansson",http://www.lexnaturalis.nl/?p=688] by Kelly Mostard. Read below what she writes about it:

The final version is online now: http://www.lexnaturalis.nl/?p=688 . I hope lots of people will read it to spread the awareness and hopefully some people realize the importance for funding this kind of research.


Kelly Mostard


''Rupert Sheldrake: The Science Delusion BANNED TED TALK''



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjGP9TUuQYA&feature=youtu.be


Also see this: ''Rupert Sheldrake on the TED controversy''



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SGzu8TJsyo


Olle Johansson
The Experimental Dermatology Unit
Department of Neuroscience
Karolinska Institute
171 77 Stockholm
Sweden



More about the theme:

http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/search?q=electromagnetic
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=electromagnetic
http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/search?q=Johansson
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Johansson

Starmail - 19. Jul, 22:16

http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/4987/

Chair of Wi-Fi safety panel steps down

July 18, 2013

Chair of Wi-Fi safety panel steps down

The Royal Society of Canada is looking for a new chair to lead an expert panel assessing safety guidelines for Wi-Fi and wireless devices. Photo credit: Paul Webster

Facing public controversy over a potential conflict of interest revealed in aCMAJ investigation, the chair of a Royal Society of Canada panel reviewing federal safety guidelines for Wi-Fi, cellphones and other radiofrequency devices has stepped aside.

Daniel Krewski, a professor in the faculty of medicine at the University of Ottawa in Ontario, failed to disclose a $126 000 contract in 2008–2009 from Industry Canada to “assist in addressing what the Department believes is opposition often based on misperception and misinformation” with respect to cellphone antennas. Krewski did, however, disclose that he had performed extensive government contract work.

After learning of Dr. Krewski’s omission, Geoffrey Flynn, who chairs the Royal Society’s Committee on Expert Panels and its Scientific Advisory Committee, told CMAJ he would “take it back to the panels.” Krewski did not respond to an interview request following his departure. Flynn also declined an interview request.

In a statement on its website, the Royal Society says it has “undertaken to identify a new Chair of the Expert Panel.”

The Royal Society also posted a statement explaining that “in order to avoid further occurrences of this type, the Royal Society will not comment further on the work of the Expert Panel on Safety Code 6 until the panel’s final report has been completed, peer-reviewed, and submitted to Health Canada, the sponsor of this report.” This statement was subsequently removed from the society’s website.

Shortly before announcing Krewski’s resignation, the Royal Society postponed a public meeting on the safety review that was scheduled for July 8 in Ottawa. “A large outpouring of interest in this event”, the society explained, made it “challenging to organize in the current circumstances. We are therefore rescheduling the consultation for later this summer.”

Magda Havas, an associate professor of environmental and resource studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, welcomed the news of Krewski’s resignation.

“Dr. Krewski, as well as several other members of the expert panel, have had industry contracts for a very long time and are known, within the scientific community, to support the outdated and ineffective guidelines,” she explained. “I have not witnessed such blatant disregard for an independent scientific review in my entire professional career.”

Frank Clegg, spokesperson for Canadians for Safe Technology— a group based in Oakville, Ontario, that wants tougher federal safety rules on radiofrequency devices — also says he welcomes the news of Krewski’s resignation. But serious concerns remain about possible conflicts of interest among the remaining seven panelists, he says. “We believe three other remaining members of the panel are severely conflicted.”

http://www.cmaj.ca/site/earlyreleases/18july13_Chair_of_Wi-Fi_safety_panel_steps_down.xhtml

DOI:10.1503/cmaj.109-4549

—Paul Webster, Toronto, Ont.

Electromagnetic fields act via activation of voltage-gated calcium channels to produce beneficial or adverse effects

Electromagnetic fields act via activation of voltage-gated calcium channels to produce beneficial or adverse effects

Martin Pall writes:


One of the great puzzles about the action of electromagnetic fields is
how can they influence the biology of our bodies? The reason that this
is such a great puzzle is that these fields are comprised of low energy
photons, with energies too low to influence the chemistry of our
bodies. So how can they possibly influence our biology? Many have
argued that the only thing that they can possibly do is to heat things,
and yet it is very clear that levels of exposure that produce only the
slightest heating have been repeatedly shown to produce substantial
biological effects. Now this puzzle has been solved in a paper with the
title of this email, published on line in the Journal of Cellular and
Molecular Medicine, freely available on the publisher's web site:

*http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcmm.12088/pdf*

That paper reviews 24 different studies in which EMF exposures produce
biological effects that can be blocked by using calcium channel
blockers, drugs that block the action of voltage-gated calcium channels
(VGCCs). Most of these drug studies implicated L-type VGGCs, showing
blockage by channel blockers specific for these L-type VGCCs; however
three other classes of the voltage gated calcium channels were also
implicated in some of these studies. What these and other studies show,
is that EMF exposures act by partially depolarizing the electrical
charge across the plasma membrane of cells, activating the VGCCs and it
is the increased intracellular calcium levels that are responsible for
the reaction to EMF exposure. These 24 studies implicate the VGCCs in
responses to a variety of EMFs, including extremely low frequency EMFs
such as 50 and 60 cycle fields produced by our alternating currents in
our wiring, various microwave/radiofrequency EMFs and nanosecond
electrical pulses. Static electrical fields also act via VGCCs, not
surprisingly because they also influence the electrical charge across
plasma membranes.

Perhaps more surprisingly, static magnetic fields also act via VGCCs.
This is a bit surprising because static magnetic fields do not produce
electrical changes in static objects. However as pointed out in the
paper, living cells in the body are rarely static, often moving rapidly
in such phenomena as cellular ruffling.

Having resolved this long-standing puzzle, the paper goes on to consider
how VGCC activation can produce two well-documented responses to EMF
exposure: stimulating of bone growth and the production of single
stranded DNA breaks in EMF-exposed cells. EMF exposures have repeatedly
been shown to produce increases in nitric oxide levels, in some cases
almost instantaneously. These nitric oxide increases are produced
through calcium stimulation of the action of the two nitric oxide
synthases in the cell, iNOS and eNOS, which are both calcium-dependent
enzymes. Nitric oxide in the cell, acts to produce most physiological
effects, by stimulating the production of cycle GMP which stimulates, in
turn the G-kinase (this is known as the NO/sGC/cGMP/G-kinase pathway).
Most pathophysiological responses to nitric oxide to through another
pathway, where nitric oxide acts as a precursor of peroxynitrite, a
potent oxidant and reactive free radical precursor. The paper suggests
that the EMF stimulation of bone growth, a very promising therapeutic
response, goes through the first pathway. It also suggests that
induction of single strand breaks in cellular DNA goes through the
second pathway. It is possible that possible beneficial effects of
EMFs go through the first pathway and adverse, pathophysiological
effects go through the second pathway. Clearly we will need a lot of
study to test mechanisms of EMF action.

This paper may be viewed in a practical setting as being very important
in two ways:

1. There have been many claims that biological effects of EMF exposures
cannot possibly exist because no plausible mechanism of action of such
exposures could produce such effects. Clearly these claims are now defunct.

2. In studies aimed at understanding the mechanisms of action of EMF
exposures we now know where to look. Such studies need to look at roles
of VGCCs, intracellular calcium, nitric oxide and possibly cycle GMP or
peroxynitrite. It can be argued, therefore, that this paper is very
much a game changer, changing a situation where there has been
substantial confusion, into one where, specific, targeted questions can
be asked and answered experimentally.

Finally, this paper says nothing at all about EMF hypersensitivity
(often abbreviated EHS), a condition where previous EMF exposure appears
to induce high level sensitivity to some types of EMFs. EHS is similar
to multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), where previous chemical
exposures produce high level chemical sensitivity. Chemicals act in MCS
by indirectly activating the NMDA receptors and NMDA receptors have many
similarities in their properties to those of the L-type VGCCs. You
should expect, therefore, a future paper on a detailed proposed
mechanism for EHS, with both many similarities and some apparent
mechanism of MCS as well as some differences.

You may forward this message as you wish.


Martin Pall [martin_pall@wsu.edu]

• Martin L. Pall^*
• Article first published online: 26 JUN 2013

Abstract

The direct targets of extremely low and microwave frequency range electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in producing non-thermal effects have not been clearly established. However, studies in the literature, reviewed here, provide substantial support for such direct targets. Twenty-three studies have shown that voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) produce these and other EMF effects, such that the L-type or other VGCC blockers block or greatly lower diverse EMF effects. Furthermore, the voltage-gated properties of these channels may provide biophysically plausible mechanisms for EMF biological effects. Downstream responses of such EMF exposures may be mediated throughCa²⁺/calmodulin stimulation of nitric oxide synthesis. Potentially, physiological/therapeutic responses may be largely as a result of nitric oxide-cGMP-protein kinase G pathway stimulation. A well-studied example of such an apparent therapeutic response, EMF stimulation of bone growth, appears to work along this pathway. However, pathophysiological responses to EMFs may be as a result of nitric oxide-peroxynitrite-oxidative stress pathway of action. A single such well-documented example, EMF induction of DNA single-strand breaks in cells, as measured by alkaline comet assays, is reviewed here. Such single-strand breaks are known to be produced through the action of this pathway. Data on the mechanism of EMF induction of such breaks are limited; what data are available support this proposed mechanism. Other Ca²⁺-mediated regulatory changes, independent of nitric oxide, may also have roles. This article reviews, then, a substantially supported set of targets, VGCCs, whose stimulation produces non-thermal EMF responses by humans/higher animals with downstream effects involving Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent nitric oxide increases, which may explain therapeutic and pathophysiological effects.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcmm.12088/abstract

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/jcmm.12088/asset/jcmm12088.pdf;jsessionid=DCFC011F696D61786300CCDF1F2760EB.d03t04?v=1&t=hjc9jzy2&s=137074971852ed1076f978d17fcbab48b2f04871

Submit Comments to the FCC by September 3rd, 2013

Submit Comments to the FCC by September 3rd, 2013

The FCC is considering changes to its exposure limits for RF radiation. This site is designed to help you learn more about the issues and submit meaningful comments to the FCC.

Please see our list of issues, browse the linked reference documents, and submit your comments as soon as possible. Time is critical.

The future health and safety of our children and grandchildren depends on our ability to deliver scientific information to decision makers in a credible and understandable fashion.

Thank you for your participation.

http://www.rfradcomments.org

Is It Time to Ban WIFI and MOBILE PHONES Completely?

Is It Time to Ban WIFI and MOBILE PHONES Completely?

Posted on the 05 January 2013 by Freeplanet

There comes a time in anyone's career where they achieve a LEVEL OF INCOMPETENCE; that point where all their old experience and training has suddenly become extinct.
IMPRACTICAL, or surplus to requirements.

At this point, one moves on to something more useful for oneself and one's aspirations.
And so it should be with the wireless world. And please don't think I'm joking about this. I'm currently amending a third draft of CUSTODIAN (book one of the free planet series) and this radiational pollution, this false global warming of the airwaves, this ruination of the evolved species in all corners of the earth, needs moving more to the center stage; pushing into the spotlight.

I'm sure that when they were inventing RADAR in the 1940s, they understood that 'in war there are collateral casualties' and any adverse affects from the use of such 'beam weapons' to track military aircraft into and out of protected airspace could be offset against the benefit of 'winning the war'.

But since then radar's been conscripted into civilian use; day in day out, Commercial Airlines saturate the airwaves with this stuff. 

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with radar, Mike," I hear all the aviation experts yelling, "Nothing at all." Radar, cell phone, wifi, TV shows. It's all non-ionising radiation at the technical level, it all contributes to the inability of the pineal gland to generate the MELATONIN our bodies need to mop up free radicals and avoid cancer.

Signals sent down broadband fibre-optic cables from private computer to computer that's fine, right? Minimal electromagnetic pollution? Yeah, I realize the hard drive and the screen themselves are also sources of em radiation but that's an issue for later correction, surely, when computers are made of something that's more akin to the way flowers work.
Migrating birds crashing to the ground in flocks. Migrating whales beaching themselves. Bees losing their way back to their hives. Is no price too large to pay for our ridiculous mobile slavery, where we can be 'found' at all hours of the day by our Corporate Overlords, and have someone's gormless schedule shoved down our throats?

Has 'broadcast technology' of this super-powerful microwave and rf nature reached its LEVEL OF INCOMPETENCE? 

Is it time to TURN OFF ALL CELL TOWERS and ALL SATELLITE BROADCASTS until further notice?  For the sake of our children's children?  For the sake of the electro-sensitive species of this planet? For the sake of Free Planet? 

Say no, and I know you've gone insane.

http://en.paperblog.com/is-it-time-to-ban-wifi-and-mobile-phones-completely-393907/

Parents pulling kids from school because of cell tower

Parents pulling kids from school because of cell tower

01/22/13
by Sharon Chen
Reporter

ENCINITAS, Calif. – Parents in Encinitas were pulling their kids out of school because of health concerns at a charter school.

“She’s been attending this school since kindergarten,” said Sonya Goodwin, a mother.  “I pulled her out of the school just after Christmas, because I have concerns about the 18 cell sites.”

Goodwin is talking about the cell phone towers at the Innovation Centre in Encinitas.  The school is one of 11 institutions run by Julian Charter Schools.  The Innovation Centre is located on the grounds of the Encinitas Beach Chapel.  Fifteen cell antennas are located in the church’s bell tower and the rest are in the parking lot.

“Our concern is cancer – just the effects of radiation,” said Justin Boudreau, whose son Ty used to attend the third grade at the school.

Boudreau is one of 10 parents that have pulled their children from the program.

Michael Schwaebe is an engineer and environmental consultant hired to conduct a study at the school for the parents.

“I would not have my child in this school,” said Schwaebe. “The levels of radiation the levels I found were very discomforting.”

Schwaebe found high levels of radio frequency power density.

“At that level there are dozens of studies that show significant health biological effects,” said Schwaebe.

“He would like to see the readings about a million times below what FCC recommends,” said Executive Director of Julian Charter Schools Jennifer Cauzza.  She calls Schwaebe’s study unrealistic.

Working together with the church and AT&T, a scientist from UC Davis was hired to conduct another study.

“He found the levels safe,” said Cauzza.  “They were 50 times below what FCC regulations were.”

Cauzza said she understands parent’s concerns, but what it really comes down to is choice.

“If you cannot be here with these antennas, then you can choose another program for your children,” said Cauzza.

“I feel like it’s unfair to have to choose between keeping my daughter in an amazing community versus a health risk,” said Goodwin.

“We’ve left and that’s our decision,” said Boudreau. “Had we known that two years ago, we would not have been here to begin with.

Cauzza said the Encinitas site is only temporary.

“We’re looking for a permanent site, but for now with such little real estate choices along the coast, it had to be the church.

Pastor Larry Peltier told Fox 5 the cell antennas have been at the church for the last 15 years and he has never received on complaint.

Fox 5 checked into Chula Vista, San Diego Unified, Poway and various other school districts, officials told us no cell phone sites are on any school grounds.

Read more: http://fox5sandiego.com/2013/01/22/cell-tower-fears-have-parents-pulling-kids-out-of-school/#ixzz2ZYYoS08d

'Our daughter died of a brain tumour. We blame her mobile'

'Our daughter died of a brain tumour. We blame her mobile'

by LECH MINTOWT-CZYZ, Daily Mail

A teenage girl who spent hours talking on her mobile phone each day has died from a brain tumour.

Samantha Miller, 17, spent hundreds of pounds a month on 'topup' cards to pay for calls to her friends.

Her parents are convinced her constant mobile phone use triggered the tumour that killed her.

Less than a year after she bought the phone Samantha started complaining of headaches, ringing in the ears and a numb face.

Doctors diagnosed a malignant brain tumour and after a 15-month battle with the disease she died two weeks ago.

She will be buried next Wednesday, the day she should have celebrated her 18th birthday.

Her parents, Janet, 39, and Phil, 58, believe her phone is to blame.

The family, including Samantha's four brothers and sisters, have stopped using mobile phones.

'Samantha was glued to her phone day and night chatting to friends and her boyfriend,' her mother said.

'She was a real chatterbox - very lively, healthy and outgoing - and that phone never stopped ringing.

'But she suddenly started getting headaches and went downhill very quickly. It was heartbreaking to watch.

'We are convinced she died because she spent so much time on the phone.'

Samantha, who was studying hairdressing and beauty therapy at a college in Street, near Glastonbury, Somerset, bought her handset nearly two years ago.

In January 2001 she was referred to Yeovil hospital where she was diagnosed with a highly malignant and advanced tumour.

The specialist asked Mrs Miller and her husband, a retired coach driver, if Samantha had a mobile phone.

However he was reluctant to blame it outright for her illness. In March last year surgeons at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, operated to remove the tumour and this was followed by a course of radiotherapy.

But it returned in January and persisted despite a further course of chemotherapy.

Samantha spent her final weeks in a wheelchair and paralysed down her left side.

Her mother said: 'I have lost a beautiful daughter. It is too late for her but I want others, especially children, to be aware of the dangers.

'Samantha was an extremely popular and bubbly girl, I could not believe how many friends she had. She was always on the phone to them.

'The phone had an antenna and where she held it to her head was where the tumour appeared.

'Holding a phone so close to your ear means all the radiation is going straight into the brain.

'There needs to be more research - everyone has a mobile phone these days and I don't want anyone else to die as a result.'

After she was diagnosed, Samantha's two brothers Simon, 19 and Gary, 12, and sisters Jenny, 15, and Mariah, eight, stopped using mobile phones.

Research by Dr Alan Preece at Bristol University has supported the claims of those who believe mobile phone radiation is not safe.

A study of volunteers showed the emissions heat up the brain and alter reaction times.

In another study, Dr Preece used squid to argue that human brains can be altered by electrical impulses.

The squid changed colour when exposed to mobile phones, violently flashing through the spectrum. They also showed slower reaction times.

Simon Best, of mobile phone emission pressure group Powerwatch, said the Millers' story was becoming all too common.

'The amount of evidence that shows that mobile phone use is damaging is growing by the day,' he said.

'And as more and more people use their handsets for longer we expect cases like this to grow rapidly.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-123198/Our-daughter-died-brain-tumour-We-blame-mobile.html#ixzz2ZTDygs63 

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A Mumbai startup is working to keep you safe from cellphone tower radiation

A Mumbai startup is working to keep you safe from cellphone tower radiation

NESA Radiation Solutions has found a way to protect its customers from cellphone tower radiation

By Shruti Chakraborty

  |  

18 July 2013

Neha Kumar shares a piece of data to give an idea of the problem she is tackling. The government regulation for the permissible levels of radiation from cellphone towers is the same as the amount of radiation a human body would absorb if it were kept inside a microwave oven for 19 minutes every day. Neha’s father, Girish Kumar, a professor at IIT-Bombay has worked on antenna technology and radiation related research for the last 30 years. A few years ago he developed health problems. “This was because of  continued exposure to radiation as part of his work,” Kumar, 25, says. This got the duo thinking.

Kumar, a biotechnology graduate from Anna University in Chennai, found the answer with Mumbai-based NESA Radiation Solutions Pvt. Ltd. in November 2011, a firm she set up on campus at IIT-Bombay, which makes household products that act as shielding solutions from cell tower radiation.

Life saver: Neha Kumar

Potent troubles

Earlier this year, the matter was heard in the Supreme Court after the Rajasthan High Court asked telecom companies to remove cellphone towers from school buildings and hospitals on account of radiation from cell towers. BioInitiative 2012, a report brought out by 29 independent scientists and health experts, cites the safe limit of radiation from cellphone towers as 0.5 milliwatts per square meter. The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, an independent organization, puts out norms on permissible radiation limits for tower firms at 4.5 watts per square meter in the 900 MHz frequency band. India’s limit was brought down from 4.5 watts per square meter in September 2012 to 0.45 watts after a government-appointed inter-ministerial panel examining India’s norms cited several studies linking health disorders to cell tower radiation, where Girish also expressed his concerns.

After graduating, Kumar researched on the health impact of cellphone tower radiation and met people living close to these towers. They 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. “When we started talking about it, cellphone operators were not happy. They have a strong lobby and while they did not completely realize the impact of cellphone tower radiation, they eventually just ignored it to let their business interests prevail,” states Girish.

Health issues

“We found a strong correlation between health problems and radiation levels,” says Kumar, Director, NESA, referring to their survey. The common health issues were frequent headaches, disturbed sleep, concentration and memory-related problems, joint pains, some cases of miscarriages, cardiovascular problems and cancer. “We found more frequent cases of health problems in areas where we measured radiation levels of four to five watts,” she says.

Neela Bhinde, 63, stays in Vile Parle in Mumbai in a house that is about 20 meters from a cell phone tower, installed six years ago. “My husband and I both developed cancer and there have been other cases of cancer in our building,” she says.

Shielding solutions

NESA first measured levels of electromagnetic radiation in homes and localities using a device called Cell Tower Radiation Detector Detex 189 which was later launched commercially. Priced at Rs. 4,950‚ it can measure radiation in the 800 MHz to 2.5 GHz frequency which includes Wi-Fi signals, television tower signals, microwave and cell tower radiation. Initially they focussed on pushing the government to bring down norms but when people started asking them for solutions, they decided to develop shielding solutions. NESA then developed three solutions in the form of window film, curtains and wallpaper. 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. Kumar refused to share details of the material used in making the product, as it is pending patent.

Talking tough

Introduced a year ago, NESA has so far sold the window film to 150 customers. The curtains were launched four months ago and have been installed for about 50 customers. The most recent of them all, the wallpaper solutions, were introduced two months ago. The pricing of each product is based on the area that a customer is looking to shield. For a 5×6 feet area, a  window film is priced at Rs. 4,500, a curtain costs Rs. 7,000 while a wallpaper is sold for around Rs. 8,250. Girish has self-funded NESA with Rs. 5 lakh and has raised investment of Rs. 1 crore earlier this year from his raw material vendor Chirag Vadilal Savla, in exchange for 50 percent stake in the startup. Savla is now a partner in the business and also helps NESA with manufacturing at their unit in Vashi, on the outskirts of Mumbai. In the last one year, the company has clocked in revenues of Rs. 1 crore. “We are going to continue marketing our product through word of mouth and will look at setting up a physical distribution chain at a later stage,” says Kumar, who also focusses on the biological side of research. Girish handles the technology, antenna and radiation aspects.  Besides this, he also runs another venture called Wilcom Technologies Pvt. Ltd. which was incubated at Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the business incubator at IIT-Bombay. Girish says he uses the entrepreneurial lessons he learnt there to run NESA.

http://entrepreneurindia.in/start-ups/a-mumbai-startup-is-working-to-keep-you-safe-from-cellphone-tower-radiation/20267/

National guidelines for telecom towers in two months: Official

National guidelines for telecom towers in two months: Official

Kolkata,Business/Economy,Health/Medicine, Thu, 18 Jul 2013IANS

Kolkata, July 18 (IANS) In a bid to standardise the installation and execution of telecom towers across the country, a set of guidelines will be brought into effect in the next two months, a telecom department official said Thursday.

The national guidelines have been formulated by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) in consultation with the department of telecommunications (DoT), the official said.

The regulations will take into account health hazards due to electromagnetic radiation and structural concerns regarding the country-wide establishment of new towers as well as monitoring the existing ones.

"The guidelines will unify rules regarding the entire country's tower installations and address concerns related to health hazards and structural requirements of those towers," said Atanu Ghosh, deputy director general, Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring Cell (TERM) at Kolkata.

It will enable the telecom authorities to monitor the emissions as well as check whether the towers are constructed according to the parameters.

"It has been prepared with all the stakeholders from the industry in a detailed manner. It will come up in a rule form and it will be available to all the chief secretaries of all the states," said Ghosh.

The parameters are in accordance with the mandates of International Commission of Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and will include technological advances such as the 4G spectrum.

Most importantly, it will direct mobile phone manufacturers to display the specific absorption rate (SAR) which is a measure of the radiation absorbed by the human body (the head) while using a cell phone.

The norms also say that mobile handsets shall comply with the SAR values of 1.6 W/kg averaged over 1 gram of human tissue. Earlier it was 2W/kg over 10 gram of human tissue.

"This will come into effect by year end. Mobile companies will have to include a certificate as well. SAR testing of handsets will carried out by the test laboratory in the Telecom Engineering centre (TEC) in New Delhi," said Ramakrishna P., principal advisor, COAI.

http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2013/07/18/311--National-guidelines-for-telecom-towers-in-two-months-Official-.html

Mobile phone tower in congested area irks residents

Mobile phone tower in congested area irks residents

MUDASIR YAQOOB

Srinagar, July 18: Residents of Haka Bazar, Badamwari, here have demanded immediate shifting of mobile phone tower from the locality. They allege that the tower is without permission. 

“The tower, which is located in the congested area, has become a nuisance for us,” they said.
Interestingly, according to the locals they had shown stiff resistance to the installation of the tower at the very initial stage. “We even voiced our concern through media, yet the authorities went ahead with their plan to install it,” they said. 

“We have made representations to the Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar and Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC). We even filed a complaint with the Chief Minister Grievance Cell and State Pollution Control Board, but our requests have yielded no results,” they complained.

“The tower is just nine feet away from my home. This is flagrant violation of the guidelines of Department of Telecommunications (DoT) which provide that any cellular tower carrying minimum of two antennas should be at least 35 meters (114 feet) away from a residential premise,” Imran, a local said, adding that the tower has multiple antennas.

Locals said a High School is also running within the close vicinity of the tower. “The school management has made a complaint in this behalf, but to no avail as the authorities as well as the company seem to be playing indifferent to our plight,” they said.

“The high radiation from the tower is a silent killer. The noise and air pollution caused by DG set installed for the tower don’t allow us to sleep during the night,” they said.

The locals said: “The Deputy Commissioner Srinagar vide order no. DCS/PS-order/12/5682-85 dated 04-12-2012 had ordered immediate closure of the DG set, but that order was never implemented.”

Meanwhile, the locals appealed the government to intervene into the matter.

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2013/Jul/19/mobile-phone-tower-in-congested-area-irks-residents-32.asp