Microwave Ovens and Radiation

When microwaves first appeared on the market the world was revolutionized; they became a must-have in the kitchen and still remain so today.  But since the great emergence, studies have surfaced questioning the safety and health issues that have been raised concerning them.

At one side of the spectrum, people vow to stay away from microwaves 100%, claiming that no good can come from the radiation technique used to heat the microwave, and others claim that the amount of radiation is so miniscule, that it doesn’t come close to comparing to all the micro-waves and radiation already going into our heads because of cell phones, radio towers, etc. that constantly surround us in today’s world. There is much anti-microwave propaganda on the internet, one needs only to type ‘microwave’ into a Google search engine to find ‘evidence’ that microwaves are detrimental to our health. But how true are these speculations? And is it worth the risk, when the safety of your family is at stake?

Most medical sources are convinced that microwaves are completely harmless. They are not radioactive, as the heat of microwaves is produced electronically, so it is impossible for either your food or your microwave to become radioactive. The difference between say, X-Rays and the microwaves that cook your food in an oven are that X-Rays is an example of ionizing radiation, while Microwaves are an example of non-ionizing radiation -- in fact, the waves that cook our food are the same that come from our TVs, FM radios, light bulbs and sun lights.

Ionizing radiation has the potential to detach at least one electron from an atom or molecule, therefore completely changing the product and, when this radiation is given off in high doses, it can make you sick. The atomic bomb survivors of 1945 and people associated with the Chernobyl incident are both examples of over-exposure to ionizing radiation and many later suffered from leukemia, as well as many other cancers including thyroid, breast, and stomach cancers.

But microwaves contain only non-ionizing radiation, or radiation that doesn’t carry enough energy to ionize. And even if the microwaves given off from your microwave oven could cause cancer, the amount of waves that are emitted would not be near enough to even come close to causing cancer.

One of the things that people fear about microwaves is that the nutrient level in food significantly goes down when cooked in the microwave -- but this is the same with any conventional cooking method. In fact, the more over-cooked the food is the more nutrients are lost, and therefore the microwave, which cooks in less time and uses less water then other conventional methods, may save the nutrients that would otherwise be leeched by slower cooking.

In short, while much more research should be done on microwaves and their effects on humans, the only health hazard that you really need to worry about is the burns that can occur from hot containers, overheated foods, or exploded foods.

In general, scientists are beginning to worry a lot more about the microwaves that come from cell phones, as people place these phones inches away from their brains and can talk for hours. But even these studies are inconclusive so far, and there is nothing that tells us how much harm (if any) can be caused by the microwaves all around us.  So don’t throw out your microwave just yet, as there is much evidence that it is as harmless as your alarm clock.