We have all heard that if you stand too close to a microwave oven while it is on, it can cause cancer. Since moving into my dorm here Penn State at the end of August, I have used the microwave to make food several times, and I am sure I am not the only one who has. I remember different teachers, students, or even family members telling me different things about microwave ovens and if they cause cancer or not. This blog post will attack the ultimate question.
http://www.cracked.com/article_17578_5-things-they-say-give-you-cancer-and-why-theyre-wrong.html
Radiation
People believe that microwave ovens are detrimental to our health because of the apparent radiation that it gives off. Radiation is bad. According to an informative display of factual reasoning and support , cancersearchUk , radiation is defined as the release of energy from any source. Energy is actually all around us, it is released from the sun and x-ray machines. To protect us from radiation while we receive our x-rays, we use a shield cover to deflect it. It all depends on the amount of radiation that you receive and the exposure to it. That is what matters in terms of health.
Microwave ovens and cancer
Why does one use the microwave? To heat food up of course. That Is all a microwave does to your food, it does not make the food radio active in anyway. While the food is in the process of being heated up, the water actually absorbs the radiation and that is how your food is heated up. The microwaves vibrate and heats the food. So, if you can operate a microwave oven properly, there is no cancerous harm.
http://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2013/10/09/microwave-cancer-causes.upwave
Ionizing vs non-Ionizing radiation
The “bad” radiation that can alter cell production and functionality, is referred to as Ionizing radiation. These are the harmful ones, and of course microwave cells belong to the non-iodizing category. But there are some harmful ones, those include x-rays and radiotherapy. Radio therapy is sort of controversial because it is used to get rid of cancer cells, but it also implements radiation into them.
The facts
As I have mentioned before, there are many views on this subject of microwaves and cancer. Microwaves heat food, they do not do anything else. They are very unlikely to cause cancer too. The only thing that is produced is a non-harmful magnetic force field. Check this interesting video out that I found !
Sources
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/cancer-questions/radiation-microwaves-and-cancer
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/radiationexposureandcancer/radiofrequency-radiation
This was a really interesting blog post to read! I remember when I was little, my mom would always tell me to not sit in front of the microwave to avoid being exposed to any possible radiation. I have never really been into science so prior to this blog post, I was not really aware of the two different types of radiation, ionized and non-ionized. It is nice to know that I was never exposed to any “bad” radiation. It is important to note that the only real dangers of the microwave are when materials that do not belong in microwaves are put in them. In addition, making sure that food is cooked the right amount of time to avoid consuming raw food or even overcooking food and starting a fire. All in all, microwaves are seemingly safe and definitely useful.
Michael,
Since most of the students who are taking this class are freshman, I would be willing to bet that most of the “cooking” that occurs in the dorms are done by a microwave. Even though I am a junior, live off-campus, and have a full kitchen, I still tend to use my microwave quite frequently. When I was a freshman, I remember using my microwave multiple times a day. I agree with you that the microwave heats up your food, but that is not the only thing that it heats up. Since many of us do not reheat food without putting it onto some sort of plate or container. While many of the containers we use are microwave safe, there are many foam and styrofoam containers that are not and that can cause negative effects on our bodies. Check this out for containers that are not microwave safe.