What’s So Bad About a Microwave?

Do you have a microwave oven in your house?  Most of us do. But believe it or not, it could be the worst thing for your health. And I don’t mean the cheap meals that you are heating up in it. I mean the radiation that it puts out.

Some time back I wrote an article called Keep Your Distance.  It talked about cell phones and other radiation devices. In it I suggested that you should stand at least 6 feet away from your microwave when it is on.  I have revised that.  Now you should run to the other side of the house when you turn it on. The microwave oven is the biggest source of radiation exposure in your house. (Wi-Fi is up there too, but in a more chronic, constant exposure).

The radiation from a microwave is in the microwave range of the electromagnetic spectrum.  It is 2.45 GHz (giga hertz) which is half way between radio waves and infrared waves.

Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from 1 millimeter to 1 meter (3/64 of an inch to about 1 yard). Microwave oven wavelengths, specifically, fall at about 122.4 millimeters (about 5 inches). These wavelengths are generated by a device called a magnetron that is inside your microwave oven. It converts electrical energy into microwave energy.

The corresponding frequencies of these microwaves are between 2.40 and 2.48 gigahertz (GHz). Frequency is how many times that wave goes up and down each second. For example, the electricity coming into your house is 60 Hz (cycles per second) and is low frequency. The wave goes up and down 60 times a second. The microwave oven on the other hand, puts out about 2,400,000,000 cycles per second. That might be enough to jar your teeth, and give pause to your heart (literally).

Now, the microwave oven industry will tell you that microwave ovens are completely safe. That screen on the front window of your microwave? That is supposed to block the microwaves from escaping the unit.

“Microwave containment: The screen acts as a Faraday cage, preventing microwave radiation from escaping the oven and reducing the risk of exposure to users.”

The industry is regulated by the federal government (Federal Communications Commission, FCC). Below are the safety limits required by law-

Leakage of RF over the oven’s lifetime is less than 500 mW /m^2.

A person should have no more than 30 min exposure at 100 mW/m^2.

But doctors and other scientists that are interested in better safety around RF radiation say that these limits are too high. Your microwave oven IS leaking radiation. They suggest lower limits-

Dr Joseph Mercola says the max exposure should be 0.10 mW/m^2

Tri-Field user manual says a “low” RF is less than 1.0 mW/m²

Note that the above suggested limits by Mercola and the Tri-Field meter manufacturer are considerably lower than the governments standards. (Dr Mercola worked at length with Brian Hoyer, Shielded Healing to establish these guidelines).

Now Hear This!

I decided to do some tests. I have a meter that measures radio frequencies. It is the Tri-Field meter mentioned above. I call it my convincer as it allows me to see and hear the radiation. If you can’t see or hear the threat, then you don’t know it is there.

As stated above by Dr Joseph Mercola, a safe RF should be less than 0.10 mW/ m^2. In other words, the highest “peak” reading on my meter should be less than “0.10” for best safety. This is far below the FCC limits stated above of 100 mW/m^2.

Here is a picture of my meter. The “peak” value is shown in the upper left corner of the screen. On this picture, it is “14.”

I did three tests. My first test was to stand in front of the microwave, with the oven OFF and turn on the meter. The meter is quiet, as expected. Click on the picture below to see the short video of the quiet meter. Look at the circled “Peak” numbers. Nice and low.

My second test was to put a cup full of water in the microwave, turn on the microwave, and stand 6 feet away from it. As you can see, the peak values are leaping up to “16.” (Make sure you turn your volume up on the video so you can hear it!) Scary!

My third test was to turn on the microwave and move far enough away to lower the radio frequency to an acceptable level (less than “0.1” peak as Dr Mercola suggested). I did the test, and in order to lower the RF reading I had to leave the kitchen, cross a large hall, and go into another room. Here is the video after I got to the other room. The peak value is back to nice and low.

In other words, my microwave was putting out very high levels of RF radiation (about 16 mW/m^2), and the safest place to stand was about 40 feet away with several walls in between me and the oven!

Hmm… this makes it harder to cook in the kitchen if I have to keep running out of the room when I turn on the microwave. Some of you may be wondering if it is because my microwave is defective or too old. (It is about 15 years old.) However, I had the electronics panel replaced last year. It should be just fine. I imagine it is similar in age to most of my readers’ microwave ovens.

This is alarming! How many years have I turned on the microwave and stood next to it, waiting for my food to heat up?  I am convinced there is a problem.

To be fair, all of my readings were well below the FCC limit of 100 mW/m^2 for 30 minutes of exposure. That is a high bar. But I wonder if the industry has purposefully pushed the limit up in order to placate a nervous public.

Hans Hertel, is a controversial Swiss food scientist. He did microwave research in the late 1980s. He talks about microwaves as having “violent, destructive power.” He is quoted as saying:

What do microwaves do to your body?

Basically, microwave radiation is capable of making changes at the cellular level. It can open calcium channels in your cell’s membranes allowing a flood of calcium ions into the cell. These channels are sensitive to electromagnetic fields. If an external field is applied, the voltage-gated calcium channel activates, opens, and let’s calcium ions into the cell. Too much calcium inside cells causes a biochemical cascade of events that leads to an increase in free radicals in the body. This is associated with more than 60 chronic diseases.

And your cells did not ask for this!  Your cells carefully monitor the amount of calcium that comes in. Have you heard of medications called “calcium channel blockers?” Researchers used the action of calcium channel blockers to elucidate the action of microwaves on the body (here and here). The biochemical pathways can lead to the formation of free radicals such as peroxynitrite (a little known but very damaging molecule). The above effect on the body is well established, but chances are, you have not even heard of it. Numerous scientists have done studies on how microwaves and radio frequencies (“Wi-Fi”) affect the human body. The expert on effects of microwaves, RF and Wi-Fi on human cells is Dr Martin Pall (Washington State University). Not only has Dr Pall done his own research on this topic, but he has pulled together some of the best literature on health effects from electromagnetic frequencies.

For more information, check out my blog post “Do you have a cellphone tower in your house?”

What do you do about it?

So, what do you do about it? How do you stop these effects on your body? To be fair, not everyone will be affected by microwave radiation. Some folks are very sensitive to it (the canaries in the coal mine). Some are not. I believe that everyone may experience some effect, even if they don’t feel it now. Consider the possibility that a future cancer diagnosis, springs up two years from now. Was it started by your exposure to microwaves? No one will ever know.

The best way to mitigate your exposure is to throw out your microwave. Or, at least not use it anymore. I have vowed not to use mine. I use a small pot on the stove to heat things up. OR, I use my small toaster oven. Unfortunately, my husband still uses the microwave. (I just make sure I am out of the kitchen when he turns it on).

Dr Martin Pall, mentions that medications such as calcium channel blockers may have a benefit for those who are sensitive to microwaves. However, this has not been fully studied and is not recommended. (He knows people who take a Propranolol before going into a high RF area.) I believe that reducing your exposure to microwaves is a better idea.

How do microwaves affect your food?

Some research indicates that vitamins are degraded by the microwave. But guess what? All cooking methods degrade nutrients in food. Since cooking in the microwave is relatively fast, the food actually retains some vitamins a little longer compared to boiling or baking.

Microwave ovens will leach plastics and phthalates from cooking containers if used in the oven. This is because microwaves can mobilize contaminants in plastic, increasing exposure to these chemicals. Only use ceramic or glass to cook food. And, according to this research in Frontiers In Nutrition , microwave treatment can alter the structure of proteins, which can affect properties such as hydrophobicity, digestibility, emulsification, foaming, gel resistance, oxidation, and allergenicity. Some foods will become more allergic after being microwaved.

I hope you consider reducing your use of the microwave. Start slow. It is a convenience that is hard to give up!

Always talk to your health professional before starting anything new. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any condition and is intended only for information. I welcome your comments.