Microwave Oven Radiation and Safety

Should we worried about microwave oven radiation
and how it will effect our health

The microwave safety has been occasionally questioned more in the past rather than now but there are still individuals out there who think that microwave ovens can pose a radiation danger and are a cancer risk but the truth of the matter is that they either base these beliefs on hearsay or incredibly old research.

People generally tend to fear what they don’t understand, and as far as most are concerned microwave ovens are still somewhat of a mystery in regards to how or why they work, and the answer is rather simple and easy to understand once you have access to it.

The way microwave ovens heat or cook food is through the use of microwave oven radiation, now the word radiation usually comes with a heavy baggage usually being associated with the word nuclear, but this is nothing of the sort, we get bombarded with radiation from the sun all day long, radio waves are a sort of radiation and so on and so forth.

So the microwave energy is produced by a component called the magnetron and it is then fed into the oven’s cavity where it heats or cooks food by causing the water molecules in the food to vibrate extremely fast.

Vibration gives birth to friction and friction produces heat with in turn cooks or heats up your food, it’s basically the same process that our ancestor used to create fire from rubbing two sticks together, the only difference now is that we have better sticks.

Now the problem is whether or not microwave ovens leak some of their energy to the outside and it is true that in some cases they might, if you’re dealing with old or faulty door seals there can theoretically be a small amount of radiation leakage, but there’s a small amount of radiation leaking through the viewing glass as well and measurements have shown this to be quite insignificant.

Let’s not forget that microwave ovens are designed for one purpose and that is to enclose the microwave energy so that it heats up your food in record time, energy leaks would be quite unwanted.

The fact is that even if let’s say there would be a leak of microwave energy from your oven, the power of microwave oven radiation decreases extremely quick as you increase the distance from the oven, meaning that the farther away you are from the microwave the less radiation you’ll be exposed to. In fact at only one meter distance there will be practically no radiation left because it dissipates so fast.

There is also the important fact that microwaves, as their name implies are very short wave pulses of energy, they’re about five inches long and only survive for a split second once they’re generated by the magnetron.

Also going back to the radiation issue, there are two forms of radiation there’s ionizing radiation which can indeed damage organic molecules and then there’s non-ionizing radiation which does not damage molecules. Microwaves are part of the second category and they do not cause the food to become irradiated, they only cause it to heat up.

It is also worth mentioning the fact that technology has advanced considerably in the past decades and we now have access to better materials than we did all those years ago, hence today’s microwave ovens are much safer than they were twenty years ago, and keep in mind they were pretty safe back then as well.

Microwave safety tips on how to avoid microwave oven radiation

There’s been some research done by those who repair microwave ovens and the research shows that over half of the microwave ovens which are two years or older leak around ten percent more radiation than the FDA recommended amount. This may seem to be bad news but the truth is that with just a minor readjustment this problem can be solved without much hassle so if you have a microwave oven that’s two years or older make sure that you have it serviced to check for this problem.

Click here to read more about how danger microwave oven is?

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Microwave Oven Radiation Video

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Update on Jan 2012 About Microwave Oven Radiation

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency have announced that there is currently no evidence to support the claims that microwaves pose a radiation hazard if they are kept in good working order and used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

There are several types of radiation which are classed under either ionising or non-ionising radiation. Ionising radiation is the more powerful of the two as it can be harmful. This energy enters cells and can change their functioning and chemical composition. Extensive exposure to this type of radiation can cause radiation sickness, burns and cancer especially as it can alter/damage any bodily cell.

On the other hand, non-ionising radiation does not have sufficient power to chemically alter the cell and this is the type of radiation that is emitted by a microwave oven. UV rays from the sun, radio waves, electromagnetic fields and radiation waves from electrical household appliances are other examples of such radiation.

Microwaves are very high frequency radio waves and, like light, are part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Electromagnetic radiation includes ultraviolet light, infrared radiation and x-rays, but these all have shorter wavelengths then microwaves. Microwave energy is transmitted, reflected or absorbed by materials in their path including food and even people. Metallic materials fully reflect microwaves while non-metallic materials like glass and some plastics are mostly transparent to microwaves.

In a microwave oven, the microwaves are created by an electronic tube named the magnetron. They are then dispersed into the oven cavity where they are reflected off the metallic oven wall surfaces to propagate them into all directions and absorbed by any food that has been placed into the oven. The microwaves infiltrate the solid or liquid food which causes the foods inner water molecules to vibrate and this friction that takes place between the molecules creates heating and consequently a rapid rise in temperature which cooks the item.

Extensive research on Microwave oven radiation:

There has been extensive research into the area but these have never resulted in conclusive verification that any level of microwave exposure can either promote or cause cancer. Any electrical power created by the microwave oven does not continue once the device/magnetron has been switched off, a bit like a light switch, and the microwaves do not stay inside the food either once it has been turned off. Based on this, the food and the oven cannot be radioactive nor be classed as a radiation hazard.

Microwave oven radiation can happen if:

The design of modern microwaves ensure that the microwaves remain inside the cavity and they incorporate at least two safety mechanisms which ensure that the generation of microwaves is stopped immediately when the door is opened. Leakage can however still occur in certain microwaves especially those which are dirty, damaged or modified and there are tests that can be done to check the levels of leakage.

The Australian/New Zealand Standard for Household Appliances states that leakage at 50 millimetres away from the appliance should not be more than 50 watts per square meter although some experts feel that this recommendation is overly safe and that even if levels of leakage were above this limit, they would not cause adverse health issues. Also, organisations who provide leakage testing services have found that it is rare to find leakages that exceed the recommended amount and that a microwave which is used appropriately and is in good condition is safe.

No microwave oven radiation when in use!

When a microwave oven is in use, a magnetic field is produced although this is only for the short period that we are cooking/warming food for and any emissions stop as soon as the door is opened. There has been research into whether there is a link between microwave oven usage and cancer and although some studies have hinted that they is a possible link, others have failed to find any evidence to support this notion. Many experts feel that the appliance does not emit sufficient energy to alter or damage a cells genetic material (DNA) therefore there is no way that they can cause cancer.

One thing to consider if you are a serial microwave oven user is that although they appear to be safe to use, they can affect and reduce the nutritional value of some food like vegetables and fruit although others may counter-argue that nutrient content is lost whichever way you decide to cook/heat you food, whether you grill, boil, fry or steam it. They say that it is the length of time the food is cooked and the water loss which are the key determinants of how much nutrition is left in the food as vitamins are water soluble and very heat sensitive.

The main reason for nutrient loss is cooking food at high temperatures for extended periods like we do with frying and baking or draining away the water/liquid which was used whilst cooking. The key to retaining as many nutrients as possible is to use as less water as you can and do not overcook. Looking at these principles, it does appear that microwaves are actually the healthier option as it uses minimal water and cooks/heats the food within minutes or even seconds.