Please refer to the article entitled “Addicted to cellphones? – India Government tells Parliament excessive use of mobiles harmful” published in today’s Times of India (Times Nation, page no. 15). The Union Health Minister is cautioning the public against the excessive usage of mobile phones. There were articles which appeared in Mumbai Mirror (“Red alert on Cell tower radiation”, in July, 2008, and the recent article “JJ hospital docs get cell tower jitters”, dated January 24, 2009) and Times of Navi Mumbai article “Illegal mobile towers to go”, dated January 11, 2009) reporting the radiation levels in different areas much exceeding the internationally accepted levels.
In spite of repeated news appearing in World Wide Web,
http://radsafe.blogspot.com
www.radsafetyinfo.com
http://icareforyou2007.blogspot.com
little attention is paid to the harmful effects of such non-ionizing radio-frequency (RF) radiation emitted by the towers and mobile phones. The expected mobile phone usage is projected to be 500 million (half of the population) within a short period of time. As per the recent reports, of the service providers have projected erection of over 90,000 base stations, signal booster antennae all over India to meet the ever increasing demand even from rural areas.
Why no serious efforts are made by the government to regulate and control these activities? Are politicians and Babus are being pressurized by the rich service providers’ lobby against taking any action? Why not ban the latest silly ad – Walk while talk - from Idea Cellular? Before RF related health effects are shown in the public in catastrophic magnitude, it is absolutely necessary to take action on war footing. Better late than never!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Nuclear disarmament
The US President Barack Obama has been actively proposing nuclear disarmament at a time when even the smaller nations such as North Korea and Iran are trying to build-up their own nuclear arsenal. The concept of nuclear disarmament is easy to talk about, but very difficult to implement.
What happens to the thousands of tons of fissile materials such as plutonium and enriched uranium in the war-heads which will become redundant and can fall into the hands of the terrorist groups? In the nuclear-weapon countries, the weapons must be of very old design and assumed to be in a state which calls for up-gradation to ensure safety and suitability for current strategic applications. Considering the cost of dismantling and reassembling, it is advisable for these countries to go for disarmament.
Unless serious efforts are made to recycle the fissile materials, probably as fuel in nuclear power reactors, it is dangerous to go for nuclear disarmament.
What happens to the thousands of tons of fissile materials such as plutonium and enriched uranium in the war-heads which will become redundant and can fall into the hands of the terrorist groups? In the nuclear-weapon countries, the weapons must be of very old design and assumed to be in a state which calls for up-gradation to ensure safety and suitability for current strategic applications. Considering the cost of dismantling and reassembling, it is advisable for these countries to go for disarmament.
Unless serious efforts are made to recycle the fissile materials, probably as fuel in nuclear power reactors, it is dangerous to go for nuclear disarmament.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Risk Equivalent Radiation Dose (RERD)-for policy decisions
A unifying concept of radiation dose should be used to express the total health risk from exposure to radiation and chemicals. For example, many chemical pollutants we come across in day-to-day life and in industrial releases are carcinogenic. The risk factors (risk per unit exposure) are assessed by different agencies and are known. Carcinogenic risk from radiation is also well known.
Thus, it is possible to add up the chemical risks due to known amount of exposures or intakes (=measured concentration of the pollutant multiplied by the time period of exposure), and the risk from radiation exposure (=radiation dose rate multiplied by the time period of exposure) to get the total risks of cancer due to radiation and chemical pollutants in any given environment.
The total risk can be expressed in terms of the total Risk Equivalent Radiation Dose (RERD).
This can be conveniently employed by the policy makers to take decisions based on health detriment, due to a decision, say, to build a type of power plant, nuclear, thermal or hydro.
Thus, it is possible to add up the chemical risks due to known amount of exposures or intakes (=measured concentration of the pollutant multiplied by the time period of exposure), and the risk from radiation exposure (=radiation dose rate multiplied by the time period of exposure) to get the total risks of cancer due to radiation and chemical pollutants in any given environment.
The total risk can be expressed in terms of the total Risk Equivalent Radiation Dose (RERD).
This can be conveniently employed by the policy makers to take decisions based on health detriment, due to a decision, say, to build a type of power plant, nuclear, thermal or hydro.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Mobile hot cell for handling highly radioactive sources
The IAEA has conceived an idea of employing mobile hot cell facility to handle radioactive sources in developing countries. The idea was successfully employed for the first time in a real field operation in Sudan in early May to process high-activity disused radioactive sources. This was the first operation of its kind undertaken by IAEA in a developing country.
Disused/decayed high-activity radioactive sources, used for diagnosing and treating medical patients, sterilizing blood and medical appliances or protecting stored crops, need to be handled before its safe disposal. Unlike in developed countries, developing countries may not have the specialized infra-structure for handling such sources.
The project in Sudan was performed at the radioactive waste storage site of the country´s Atomic Energy Commission. The inventory included disused sources that had been used in research and medical teletherapy machines containing high-activity Cobalt 60 sources. Inside the mobile hot cell, the disused radioactive sources were removed from the original equipment and transferred into a stronger storage container that was designed for their safe and secure storage.
The creation of the mobile hot cell and its successful operation illustrates an excellent example of technical cooperation between developing countries. It is an opportunity to extend disused source recovery and conditioning work to cover other developing countries (source: IAEA News).
Disused/decayed high-activity radioactive sources, used for diagnosing and treating medical patients, sterilizing blood and medical appliances or protecting stored crops, need to be handled before its safe disposal. Unlike in developed countries, developing countries may not have the specialized infra-structure for handling such sources.
The project in Sudan was performed at the radioactive waste storage site of the country´s Atomic Energy Commission. The inventory included disused sources that had been used in research and medical teletherapy machines containing high-activity Cobalt 60 sources. Inside the mobile hot cell, the disused radioactive sources were removed from the original equipment and transferred into a stronger storage container that was designed for their safe and secure storage.
The creation of the mobile hot cell and its successful operation illustrates an excellent example of technical cooperation between developing countries. It is an opportunity to extend disused source recovery and conditioning work to cover other developing countries (source: IAEA News).
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Radioactive Cargo in aircrafts
Millions of radioactive packages are transported regularly by air between different destinations around the world. I believe, India also imports and exports these radioactive sources for different applications, mainly for the diagnosis and treatment of patients in hospitals.
There are very stringent international regulations applicable for transportation of radioactive materials. The rules and regulations apply with respect to type of the radioactive source, nature of the package and the total radioactive material permitted inside the package. The purpose of this is to make sure that even in case of any accident no radioactivity comes out of the package and harm anybody.
Under such situations, there is no reason for any alarm and no need for the media to give undue importance for the presence of radioactive cargo in the aircrafts. Let us not make patients suffer because of our ignorance.
There are very stringent international regulations applicable for transportation of radioactive materials. The rules and regulations apply with respect to type of the radioactive source, nature of the package and the total radioactive material permitted inside the package. The purpose of this is to make sure that even in case of any accident no radioactivity comes out of the package and harm anybody.
Under such situations, there is no reason for any alarm and no need for the media to give undue importance for the presence of radioactive cargo in the aircrafts. Let us not make patients suffer because of our ignorance.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Mobile user base has gone up seven times in India!
During the last 4 fours, a lot of changes have taken place in Indian telecom sector. The number of fixed-line users has come down. People want to go for mobile phone whether it is necessary or not. The revolution is a phenomenon. As of end of February 2009, the mobile phone user base was 376 million. The major GSM players are: Bharti, Vodafone, BSNL and Idea, while the CDMA firms are mainly Reliance and Tata Teleservices. The time spent by people making or receiving calls on mobile phones is one the rise. At the end of December 2008, minutes of GSM mobile usage (mou) worked out to be an average 496 minutes per month. The demand for mobile phones from rural sector is also increasing greatly.
One can see the many tall mobile tower structures coming up in the rural skylines. In cities, mobile towers are erected on building tops in heavily populated areas. The electromagnetic pollution levels measured in some places are much more than the permissible levels. It is also reported that the radiation from the towers can cause many health effects, including cancer, headaches, genetic disorders, etc. None of the service providers has come forward to explain the higher radiation levels measured and the actual position to the common man.
The mobile users in the country have a right to know what are the benefits and harmful effects of such radiation exposures and what precautions should be taken to prevent any possible harmful effects.
One can see the many tall mobile tower structures coming up in the rural skylines. In cities, mobile towers are erected on building tops in heavily populated areas. The electromagnetic pollution levels measured in some places are much more than the permissible levels. It is also reported that the radiation from the towers can cause many health effects, including cancer, headaches, genetic disorders, etc. None of the service providers has come forward to explain the higher radiation levels measured and the actual position to the common man.
The mobile users in the country have a right to know what are the benefits and harmful effects of such radiation exposures and what precautions should be taken to prevent any possible harmful effects.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Scrap monitoring for radioactivity - global issue
International experts from several countries said in a meeting held at Spain recently that urgent steps are needed to protect people from radioactive material that can inadvertently end up at junk and scrap yards.
In the last three years, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has become aware of around 500 events involving uncontrolled ionizing radiation sources, about 150 of which were related to sources found in scrap metal or contaminated goods or materials. A large portion of the scrap metal that is consumed annually is traded internationally, and may originate in one country and be transported long distances before being processed in another country. This is clearly a global problem that hence requires the application of a globally harmonized approach involving all stakeholders, says the IAEA official.
The regulatory approach is based on providing International Safety Standards by the IAEA (which is in place), and provide better guidance to regulators, scrap dealers, and metal recycling industries on how to deal with problems when they occur. The scope of the new protocol involves the detection and monitoring of radioactivity in the storage facilities and industries where scrap metal is collected and handled. Key elements include creating a register of ascribed companies, monitoring material at the entrance of the facilities as well as the final products and waste, and establishing sequence of actions to be taken when radioactivity is detected in the scrap.
In the last three years, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has become aware of around 500 events involving uncontrolled ionizing radiation sources, about 150 of which were related to sources found in scrap metal or contaminated goods or materials. A large portion of the scrap metal that is consumed annually is traded internationally, and may originate in one country and be transported long distances before being processed in another country. This is clearly a global problem that hence requires the application of a globally harmonized approach involving all stakeholders, says the IAEA official.
The regulatory approach is based on providing International Safety Standards by the IAEA (which is in place), and provide better guidance to regulators, scrap dealers, and metal recycling industries on how to deal with problems when they occur. The scope of the new protocol involves the detection and monitoring of radioactivity in the storage facilities and industries where scrap metal is collected and handled. Key elements include creating a register of ascribed companies, monitoring material at the entrance of the facilities as well as the final products and waste, and establishing sequence of actions to be taken when radioactivity is detected in the scrap.
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