are microwave ovens really dangerous?

Question

i'm using microwave ovens for a long time and just now i found out that it may be dangerous... i dont know... is it dangerous guys? and if its that hazardous, how come its not completely banned world wide? i guess i want to deny the fact that its harmful because im a microwave user... but is it really dangerous do the point of infertility or cancer?

Answer 1

Despite the scary title "microwave radiation," a microwave oven is basically just another household electronic device. It is an extremely close relative of a convention cathode-ray-tube television set.
Even when the microwave oven is on, all it has inside it is microwave radiation and that's just not a big deal. The instant you turn it off, it doesn't even have those microwaves in it. It's just boring inert electronic parts and they'll sit in the landfill for generations, rusting and decaying like every other abandoned electronic gadget. I'd rather see it go to a recycling center and have its precious materials returned to the resource bin, but as landfill junk goes, it's not all that bad. Given that toxic chemicals are the primary concern with landfills, microwave ovens are probably rather innocuous. They have no radioactive contents and although the high-voltage capacitor might have oil in it, that oil can no longer be the toxic PCBs that were common a few decades ago. Even when that oil leaks into the environment, it's probably not going to do much.

So there you have it, microwave ovens go to their graves no more loudly or dangerously than old televisions or computers or cell phones.

In fact, I might start calling cell phones "microwave phones" because that's exactly what they are. They communicate with the base unit by way of microwave radiation. Given the number of people who have cell phones semi-permanently installed in their ears, concerns about microwave radiation should probably be redirect from microwave ovens to "microwave phones." Think about it next time your six-year-old talks for an hour with her best friend on that "microwave phone." :-0

Answer 2

Microwave ovens are a safe technology... but there are a couple of things to watch for... firstly, if somebody who has a pacemaker stands too close to a microwave oven while it's working, it can disrupt the rhythm of their pacemaker, secondly, when food is removed from a microwave oven, it is still cooking... that is why you are told to leave food to stand for a minute... thirdly, as food heats up from the inside in a microwave, you have to make sure you turn it and stir it, and that anything with tough skins (potatoes, for example) need to have the skins pierced, otherwise they may explode (not so much dangerous, as messy!), and lastly, like most large electrical items, if someone drops one onto your head it REALLY hurts!

Answer 3

Hell no. But really, a microwave oven does not cook food in the same way as a heat convection oven does, which makes food have a more "uncooked" texture. Why would you want a microwave oven?

Answer 4

This has been kept under wraps for a long time.I threw mine out
over three years ago.
It is kept quiet because there is not enough money in the world to settle all the law suits.
Go to google and start digging,even water is not the same after
being microwaved!

Answer 5

not to worry, the minute radiation that does occur is that of RF,
which isn't harmful in small doses, and of which has to be much greater in strength than that of a microwave. it's really only harmful if you get it to arc while its running, 'casue it might catch fire.

Answer 6

yes microwaves are dangerous, why you wanna radiate your food??
I stopped using a microwave recently, food tastes much better and only take a few minutes longer to heat up.
Just sell it or trash it!

Answer 7

Yes -- in 100 years everyone who has ever used a microwave will be dead.

Answer 8

only dangarous when u put a baloon filled with o2 or gas inside and put a fork inside at the same time.
apart from that its ok

Answer 9

TV gives out radiation too

Answer 10

Despite what everyone says, I have heard that they are pretty much harmless, (unless you actually climb inside one, and turn it on - I've heard that that's not very good for you....)