Microwave oven myths?

I saw a microwave oven in use at Orenburg airport (Belarus), two weeks ago.
They are commonplace in Kazakhstan. (As is anything hi-tech and fashionable.
Kazakh youngsters are cellphone junkies.
 
Anders W. Bonde said:
Thanks, guys.

I suppose the real test of whether something 'bad' happens to the cooked food or not lies with clinical studies. I have found none that are reputable and support the woo viewpoint. In the end, it all seems to boil down to the effects of heating, regardless of the source of heat. But I can see how the microwave interaction in some chemical processes can set the woo thinking 'this must be bad'.
Click to expand...

I think the thought that radiation is cooking the food bothers many. Many woo minded people were afraid that microwave oven gave off radiation and made food radioactive. In studies I have seen less carcinogens are created by cooking with microwave than by frying or baking or roasting. This probably has to do with temperatures reached and durations of said temperatures during cooking.
 
What about the ol' "Don't stand too close to the microwave while you're heating something and/or don't open the door without hitting the Stop button before, otherwise you will be affected by radiation" claim?

True or woo?
 
Ron_Tomkins said:
What about the ol' "Don't stand too close to the microwave while you're heating something and/or don't open the door without hitting the Stop button before, otherwise you will be affected by radiation" claim?

True or woo?
Click to expand...

You can buy leak detectors to see if suggestion no 1 applies. If the microwave isn't leaking, then it doesn't apply. If the microwave is leaking, then the risk would follow the inverse-square law.

Regarding the stop button: usually, the doorlatch is a second connection to the stop button - a sort of deadman's switch - so pressing down on the doorlatch is the same as pressing the stop button. Since the waves are travelling at something like 99% of the speed of light, they're long absorbed in the thousandth of a second between the power cutoff and the appearance of a crack wide enough to leak em.
 
I must admit that I'm still surprised that the microwave oven doesn't shield the cell phone effectively - their frequencies are not all that far apart.

I think it is fair to say that sound scientific studies do show that microwaves and other RF electromagnetic radiation can have an effect on organic tissue in addition to and/or other than thermal effects, but that there is no evidence that this makes microwaved food dangerous compared with food heated by other means - it' the temperature, distribution and duration of heat application that affect food safety, regardless of heating method, and that there is no evidence showing adverse effects on health of people located near microwave ovens in use.

What is the current status on scientific studies showing a connection between Alzheimer's and other brain disorders and exposure to microwaves or other electromagnetic fields? I've seen some study abstracts on the 'net, but I'm not well-versed in the interpretation of significance in clinical or epidemilogical studies (I'm but a structural engineer). From what I've seen, though, it appears that prolongued exposure to very strong fields may have adverse health effects, but that the fields encountered from cell phones, power grids, household cabling, electrical and electronic appliances (including microwave ovens) are so weak that no ill effects have been registered.
 
blutoski said:
You can buy leak detectors to see if suggestion no 1 applies. If the microwave isn't leaking, then it doesn't apply. If the microwave is leaking, then the risk would follow the inverse-square law.

Regarding the stop button: usually, the doorlatch is a second connection to the stop button - a sort of deadman's switch - so pressing down on the doorlatch is the same as pressing the stop button. Since the waves are travelling at something like 99% of the speed of light, they're long absorbed in the thousandth of a second between the power cutoff and the appearance of a crack wide enough to leak em.
Click to expand...
Which is why you can use Marshmallows in a microwave to calculate the speed of light: http://www.physics.umd.edu/ripe/icpe/newsletters/n34/marshmal.htm
 
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