Survey: Do you Stand In Front of the Microwave?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03. 3.07
The tinfoil hat brigade was out in force after Helen Suh MacIntosh's answer to the question of whether standing near microwaves was safe. I personally use a cell phone and have a digital clock beside my bed, but always told the kids not to look through the window when nuking the gruel. There clearly are degrees, as we have seen in our discussions about Lakehead University and EHS.
I have so much wireless gear around here it's not even funny. Low levels of microwaves constantly, and I just got my ham license so there're likely to be higher levels of lower frequencies soon too.
But I use wired 10/100 when it's convenient, because not only is it faster and more reliable, it means less RF. I use a wired headset with my cellphone, because not only is it comfortable, it's more reliable than bluetooth and means less RF.
I keep the alarm clock at the opposite end of the room, mostly because it forces me to physically get up and push the button, but also because the unshielded transformer hasn't made a good case for why it needs to be near my head.
Everything in moderation, including moderation. :)
This is so absurd and ridiculous. If anyone wants to make a claim that a microwave or a cellphone emits powerful enough wavelengths to biologically alter a human lets see the study. This has been disproven so many times I find it hard to believe people still believe in this stuff.
Right, perfectly safe, like GMO foods, plastic baby bottles, petroleum for fuel, etc., etc.
We can always trust what they tell us is safe, right?
Yes.
I like the redish tan I get so I usually sit right infront of it whilst im cooking my Pot pies, popcorn and hungry man TV dinners...unless ofc American Idol is on, then I forgo the tan for my Idol mania...
I have no fears about a properly operating microwave. But... There is this nifty wave trap at the door seal that keeps it from leaking energy and if the door doesn't close correctly, or if something has broken in there then it could leak. I keep away from the joints in the door and generally stay back a couple feet when the oven runs.
I've repaired or replaced the microwave oven 4 times in 25 years. Once for the failure of a safety related item (thermal overload fuse fractured by improper installation at factory). I consider it entirely possible that the factory would mess up the door seal.
I'm simply too occupied with life and real concerns to take-up fictitious ones as a hobby.
In our household, the consensus is that there is no consensus. I have typically felt that the microwave is not especially dangerous, while my wife has typically been more wary.
When my wife became pregnant, however, we took greater care and did not operate the microwave when she was near. The fact is that we don't know one way or the other (I mean "we" as in she and I, not the collective "we"), and chose to err on the side of caution, because if there is any risk at all, I think gestation would be a particularly vulnerable period.
The Faraday cage mention really raises a point. If people are so concerned about stray microwaves, why not solve the problem with science? Either buy a microwave detector and actually measure to see if there's a problem, or build a Faraday cage around your microwave, and ensure there isn't one?
I have a biotech degree and I've done a bit of personal research on the topic. You can find plenty of pubmed referencs to how cell phone radiation and the problems that it causes with the brain (but not, apparently, other parts of the body.)
There's still discussion on why this happens, since cell phone radiation is 'non-ionizing' and ionizing radiation is required to hurt your body cells.
One possible cause is that cell phone radiation interferes with the blood-brain barrier and allows something in (viruses? other chemicals?) that result in inflammation in the brain. It's still preliminary, but I wouldn't blow the idea off.
It was found that the MDA level increased (P0.05) in the brain tissues of EMF-exposed guinea pigs. In addition, MDA, vitamins A, D(3) and E levels, and CAT enzyme activity increased (P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17674954?ordinalpos=2&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
On the other hand, the folks who claim that microwaving food causes cancer bug the heck out of me.
Hmm.. the comment got truncated because one of my 'less than' signs was interpreted as an HTML tag. Argh. Well, the link made it through, if anyone feels like checking out the original article. There are a lot of articles on the effects of cell phone radiation on the brain. Some document harm. Some fail to find harm.