I’ve never really been interested in the natural sciences, so I’m not too familiar with radiation and chemical compounds and genes and all that stuff. However, I am familiar with the idea that a pregnant woman should not stand in front of an operating microwave oven for fear of exposing the unborn child to harmful radiation. I’ve never been too comfortable with the idea (if she shouldn’t stand in front of a microwave, I should probably get out of the way too), but I’ve never been able to understand well enough how radiation works to determine if this idea is fact or fiction.
Turns out, I still don’t! After doing some online research through scholarly articles, I realized I would need hours to sift through some of the language used in lab reports and findings, so I searched for simpler articles on the effects of radiation from microwave ovens. A lot of the sources that came up in my Google search seemed questionable (some even seemed like conspiracy theories), so I decided to just stick to the US Food and Drug Administration’s website. According to the FDA, “microwaves are a form of electromagnetic radiation; that is, they are waves of electrical and magnetic energy moving together through space,” and the reason that microwave ovens utilize these waves is that they can be absorbed by foods and changed into heat energy (which allows you to warm up those leftovers in under 2 minutes). Exposure to high-levels of these waves can cause a painful burn, cataracts, or temporary sterility; however, you wouldn’t be exposed to those levels while using a microwave oven, which has only a “5mW limit for microwave oven leakage.” There has not been enough verifiable research conducted to determine the effects of low-level radiation on the human body.
So basically, what I think I’m getting out of this is that the microwaves that microwave ovens produce are so small that they cannot harm your body short-term, but there is no information about how they can affect you long term. I’m probably really over-simplifying this, so if you know anything about radiation, microwaves, etc., that might help me better understand how it all works, let me know!!
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I have a friend who always sends me emails warning me about health “conspiracy theories” such as this one. (Actually I’m pretty sure I received one a while back about some crazy effect microwaves had). I usually disregard them so I’m glad in this case I won’t actually have something bad happen to me!
My mom tends to believe anything she reads on the internet, especially those health related. My uncle does not even have a microwave in his home because he believes in its adverse radiation consequences. I usually disregard any of the forwarded emails I get about health concerns because they tend to be ridiculous, so I am glad you are addressing one of the points conspiracy theorists like to make.
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“Radiation from microwave ovens can cause adverse health effects.” – Fact or Fiction? | Fact or Fiction?
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“Radiation from microwave ovens can cause adverse health effects.” – Fact or Fiction? | Fact or Fiction?
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