What happens if a microwave over were to operate with the door *open*?

Question

Assuming one were to somehow bypass the safety latch in some way, what would happen if the microwave were to be run with the door open.

I know that it emits radiation to heat the food, but would this handy device emit radiation into the room?

Safe levels? Hazardous?

And NO - I WILL ABSOLUTELY *NEVER* EVER DO THIS
I'm not stupid, not psycho, and not suicidal!
I'm simply curious, and certainly am not going to attempt it myself. Ever.

So does anyone know?

Answer 1

Microwaves are NOT ionizing, so there is no risk in the sense of radioactivity. They also would NOT cause a fire.

However, they cause heating of body tissue, and this can be very harmful indeed. The most sensitive areas are thing like testes (which are naturally cooler than the rest of the body), eyes, but in principle any organ could be affected by the levels present in an oven.

This is why microwave ovens have secure interlocks that prevent them operating with the door open.

Answer 2

Microwave overs work by the emission of electromagnetic waves, these waves causes water molecules that it comes in contact with, to vibrate (due to their increased kinetic energy), cause that object to heat up. So if the Oven was to operate with the door open, every material that the microwaves comes in contact with will heat up. Could posibily cause fire, thats if the waves are concenterated enough

Answer 3

There is, in fact, a large body of data on the effect of ionizing radiation on the human body. See the link. Among other things it can fry your nuts. Look at the paragraph about a page down when it mentions "testes".
HTH.

Answer 4

yes radiation levels very high