Are microwaves safe to use?

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
a reply to: Bedlam

What do you make of this ..?

Well, you can't GET radiolytic compounds from a microwave oven. You get those when you have ionizing radiation that sorta blasts molecules apart. But you'd have to have something past UV to do it. A microwave doesn't have enough energy per photon.

So what I make of it is that the author doesn't understand what he/she is talking about, or they're lying to you.

eta: I see the guy has a doctorate...in health promotion. Whatever that is. It's sure not in physics.

a reply to: Elton

That said don't run one with the door off and aim it at your head, it would no longer be safe.

That sounds like a challenge.....

a reply to: Bedlam

eta: I see the guy has a doctorate...in health promotion. Whatever that is. It's sure not in physics.

Well it could be a doctorate in sales ...anyhow thx for the reply.....i am not sold on microwaves as i stated earlier they make good letterboxes thats about it

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
a reply to: Bedlam

Well it could be a doctorate in sales

...

I am appalled they even have doctorates for that. Health...promotion. A doctorate.

originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
a reply to: Elton

That said don't run one with the door off and aim it at your head, it would no longer be safe.

That sounds like a challenge.

....

If you want to cause maximum havoc you need a nice parabolic dish with a bit of impedance matching. Magnetrons hate working into crappy loads.

You could make something that looked like Earth vs The Flying Saucers but I don't know that you'd get enough range to make it worthwhile, with only 1kW.

a reply to: Bedlam

My brother has an ion meter and when he starts his microwave, the whole kitchen is hot. Now, I am going to believe evidence I actually see. You may be misunderstanding what they are referring to when they say that. When energy is given off by the microwave, it does not just disappear. It is not transformed into matter either. Think about that, where does the excess energy go after cooking the food.

I'm not saying this energy is bad for us though, just that it exists. I won't be standing in front of a microwave like I used to anymore after seeing what that ion meter was doing though, it may not be legally considered bad for us, but constant exposure can't be doing us any good either.

When we tested all over the house, almost everything running was making his meter detect it except stuff that was really grounded well. Not many things were grounded like that though. The Microwave blew everything away though. That made the meter hum and pegged the needle on the sensitive setting. On the regular setting the only thing that made it beep and the gauge move was the microwave.

I don't take what they are telling us as the truth unless I test it or find believable evidence by a party that is completely neutral. I have seen how many of these regulations are worded and have examined some of the parameters of the testing. Many things are for some reasons not tested.

I am not afraid of using a microwave, We just decided we did not really need it anymore. It does not save money, only time. If you figure the cost of purchasing it and it lasts five years, the average life of a microwave, you will find you lost money using it.

The same is true with the new kehrnig coffee pots. You could make a pot of coffee in the regular drip pot that cost fifteen bucks and drink one cup of coffee and throw the rest away and it would be cheaper than the kehrnig cup of coffee. On top of that those pots are a hundred bucks on sale and in less than five years they are shot. On top of that, the first cup in one of those pots takes a long time cause you got to heat the water. My daughters electric bill jumped over twenty five bucks when she kept it on continuously.

I think people have got completely misled, not analyzing things at all to see if they are true. Now if you are bu

originally posted by: rickymouse
a reply to: Bedlam

My brother has an ion meter and when he starts his microwave, the whole kitchen is hot. Now, I am going to believe evidence I actually see. You may be misunderstanding what they are referring to when they say that. When energy is given off by the microwave, it does not just disappear. It is not transformed into matter either. Think about that, where does the excess energy go after cooking the food.

The same place a light goes when you turn it off. Seriously, the energy goes into cooking the food. It doesn't fall out the door when you open it. It's a radio signal for God's sake.

And no, microwaves by themselves don't make ions. Again, you can have some corona discharge due to a crappy connection inside the unit.

An ion meter doesn't say anything about the energy in the oven...just that for some reason the oven's emitting ions. Ions aren't energy. Probably what you're getting is ozone formation.

When we tested all over the house, almost everything running was making his meter detect it except stuff that was really grounded well. Not many things were grounded like that though. The Microwave blew everything away though. That made the meter hum and pegged the needle on the sensitive setting. On the regular setting the only thing that made it beep and the gauge move was the microwave.

In such a case, I'd be wondering what else the meter detects besides ions. I suspect it's of poor quality and you're picking up EM, ozone and static electric fields as well.

a reply to: Iwinder

They might have changed it. I didn't know. My grandma couldn't be around them because of hers but that was 20 years ago.

a reply to: tastyrawmeat
The only safe form of cooking is to use an electric oven and not cook your food above 35 Celsius for meat and maybe about 50 Celsius for anything else you can marinate meat to protect it from the heat though, also don't use metal as metal kills minerals, we get attacked from every perceivable angle and some that are not perceivable LOL,
virtually everything we are given is pretty much designed to dumb us down and kill us at an early age, the only way out is to educate yourself do your own research and talk to people who have been involved in various industries everyone has got a story.
one source of microwave info I got was from a CEO of a nutritional company who told me about it destroying the nutrition he had it tested himself and there's plenty of info on the net in the way of science books and testing that confirms this it will eventually lead to you getting brain damage due to protein aggregation www.nature.com...

also look at how they make the food in the first place then you will see its rubbish and aimed at people who are apathetic and not too interested in their own health, these are the sort of people that think a doctor is going to give them a pill with the poison sign on (red triangle) and think its good for them.
Gas cooking produces at least 1 cancer causing chemical possibly 2 but I used to eat microwave food and I can't remember now, barbecuing is by far the worst way to cook something some of the reasons are shown in this book it also refers to protein aggregation which is where the amino acids bend and are unable to be used by the body, this scientist found it starts at 35 celsius in meat cooking (scroll down to the meat section but all of the book is fascinating if you like to live healthily and want to know the scientific aspect of food)
books.google.com.au... Y&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uCvpVLSXIIyyogSG1YLQCg&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=tropoelastin%20from%20food&f=false
Once your immune system is fine and you have removed the heavy metals out of you nothing is really a problem though as your body can deal with it.

a reply to: Bedlam

From reading the information about the ion meter, it measures Ions. It is not just his microwave, he has taken it to many homes of people he knows and the results are always about the same.

I don't think it really is anything to worry about, an ion is just an ion, when food is cooked with the microwave, the food could even give off ions. But there was no food in the microwave when I was there to observe it.

Those Ion meters aren't very expensive, buy one yourself and check it out before denying that this exists. They are not much over a hundred bucks for a decent one. I researched the results and it does check out as true. The research I read said it wasn't a problem unless you were in that field for a high amount of time.

I'm going to buy one myself, but I am going to get one that tests for both positive and negative ions. Those are about two hundred bucks for a decent one.

How can you deny something doesn't exist when the actual testing equipment shows it does.

Here is what I know of the "grave" danger of household microwave oven:

1- Static magnetic field:

There is two very powerfull magnet inside the magnetron capable of about 1500 gauss at their surfaces. They are enclosed inside a magnetic circuit to maximize flux inside magnetron cavity and minimize outside flux. The metallic cover of the oven act as a supplemental shield. Outside flux is minimal and probably less than near your common fridge magnet.

2- AC magnetic field:

Created by the AC power transformer for the magnetron. As the static field, negligible external field at 60Hz is produced.

3- Electric field:

Despite high voltage present, conductive structure of the oven act as a shield for electrostatic field.

4- Ions source:

No ionic source exist as corona emission is suppressed in correctly operating oven.

5- High voltage:

High voltage at high current source exist inside the oven, voltage well past the 1kV mark is present and would be capable to kill an elephant. However, if the oven is not opened and well grounded, no hazard exist for the operator.

6- RF radiation:

This is the main danger, as the magnetron produce RF power at 2.4GHz at 750 to 1000W power. But for a normally functionning oven, the leakage shall be safe. However, it is a good idea to keep face some distance away from the door as the human eye's crystalline is very sensitive to microwave energy (it cannot dissipate heat easily) and can be afflicted by cataract. Sometime the oven door does not seal well and higher level of microwave can leak.

7- Effect on food:

Microwave produce heat in food by conduction and dielectric loss. Since this is not ionizing radiation, effect is no different than plain ordinary heat. Sometime electrical arcing can produce carbonization.

a reply to: rickymouse

How can you deny something doesn't exist when the actual testing equipment shows it does.

Most of the time, "cheap" commercial meter will absorb the leaked rf energy and produce a parasitic reading. Said in other word, this piece of equipment would do poorly in an EMI succeptibility test.

Call it parasitic radio rectification, very like an electric guitar receiving nearby AM radio station...

a reply to: Unity_99

Reverse microwaves chill wine, they finally admitted to some use of reverse sine.

Are you referring to this? www.telegraph.co.uk...

If so,can you point out the use of "reverse sine"?

Microwaves are safe to use and a great innovation, slashing cooking times.

Absolutely indispensable to a busy bee like me.

Food only tastes "rubbery" because of water loss during cooking.

You can prevent this by putting a microwave-safe plastic shield over a plate or bowl.

Maybe add a little water to the food as well, if it's on the dry side.

originally posted by: burdman30ott6
Yeah, I don't think there's a huge risk to overall health involved in using one to heat up some water or pop some corn, but caution is best when dealing with actually cooking food in them. They absolutely zap nutrients out of the food and breakdown the cellular structure of food much moreso than real cooking does. Another big concern: DON'T EVER COOK FOOD IN PLASTIC USING ONE!!! That includes microwave safe food wrappings and containers! Any form of plastic, no matter how "safe" they claim to be, leech carcinogens into the food during the microwaving cycles. If you must use a microwave, use a glass container.

No they do not take the nutrients out of them.
They heat the moisture up in food causing it, well, to heat up.
As for the carcinogens, please.

I'm also trying not to turn on my irony meter due to the fact the op is asking a question like this on the internet.

I wish people would understand the difference between all the types of radiation. Light, radio waves, magnetic waves, ionizing ect. . Microwaves use radio waves to cook food and are not a source of ionizing radiation like plutonium. Also, microwaves and anything that's plugged in will output 60Hz magnetic waves which allot of "emf" meters will pick up, so throw it ALL out...it must be bad if it cam be detected.....sarcasm!

Then again, its pointless to even discuss it just like the whole 911 thing, people just want to be reassured that they are correct. If people are wrong and never learn different, you can still buy microwaves at the end of the day while others burn them without trial for witchcraft.

I would be more afraid of artificial colors and preservatives in food than what caused the water molecules to grind on each other. That said, never get an inverter microwave no matter how cheap it is, they burn out way too often and could catch fire. Normal transformer microwaves can last 20 years depending on usage.

originally posted by: jinni73
a reply to: tastyrawmeat
...it will eventually lead to you getting brain damage due to protein aggregation www.nature.com...

Microwaving food does not give you vCJD.

it also refers to protein aggregation which is where the amino acids bend and are unable to be used by the body, this scientist found it starts at 35 celsius in meat cooking

Any cooking denatures proteins. It doesn't really matter, because your body disassembles them all into their constituents and puts them back together the right way.

originally posted by: rickymouse
a reply to: Bedlam

From reading the information about the ion meter, it measures Ions.

To know what else it's measuring, you need to know how it works and how well it's designed to avoid false detection of other things like ozone, electric and magnetic fields and the like. If you are seeing indications from appliances that are plugged in unless they are grounded, it's a safe bet you're seeing EM interference, because grounding wouldn't do doodly for ion generation. Which you ought not get in your generic 110V piece of gear.

Those Ion meters aren't very expensive

That's what I mean.

How can you deny something doesn't exist when the actual testing equipment shows it does.

Hobby grade stuff may show a LOT of things that aren't there. If you were in the lab as much as I am, you'd develop a healthy mistrust for the instrumentation. And an understanding of how it works, and when it's likely to be telling you porkies. How can you measure something that you aren't even sure how it comes to be? What's the lowest voltage that can produce an ion out of air at something like STP? (hint - it's just over 300V) Therefore, if your hobby meter is showing you ion production out of something that doesn't HAVE 300V+ inside it, but it doesn't if you interpose a grounded shield, the odds are quite high that it's showing you something else, too.

originally posted by: DenyObfuscation
Are you referring to this?

So THAT'S where he got that from. I remember years ago when that went past ATS and about half didn't read past the headline. I think I made a joke about a macrowave refrigerator.

This could be the origin...