My microwave is situated right next to the open counter space in my kitchen. When I’m cooking I’m usually using that counter space to do other things while food is cooking in the microwave. Could this be harmful to me after doing it for long periods of time?
Don’t believe a word of that site. Blue and white LEDs typically require at least 3V across them to light them up. If it’s doing that from across a room, as the writer claims, you’re getting COOKED by your oven. Since you’re posting, I suggest that’s umlikely.
The reality is, most ovens don’t leak a great deal of radiation. I know of no reputable studies that show a serious risk due to microwave oven leakage. And the FCC has severe limits on leakage levels that manufacturers must meet before their products can be released.
You can get a leak detector, but it’s unlikely you’ll need one if you buy a decent name-brand oven. If the door or door seal is damaged, just ditch the whole unit and get a new one. They’re cheap enough and repairing one would be economically unsound. Be sure to keep the seal and seal contact area clean.
People have been trying to prove that radio waves are harmful for decades. Every once in a while a study gets published where they find a link between radio waves and cancer or some such, but then the follow-up studies (if they are done) are often contradictory. To date, I’m not aware that anyone has conclusively proven any harmful effect of radio waves at low power levels.
At higher power levels, of course, they can burn you really bad. An RF burn is usually a deep tissue burn and hurts like a sonofabitch. The only way you can get this kind of exposure from a microwave oven is to defeat all of the safety mechanisms on the door though.
All that the link above proves is that microwave ovens emit radio waves. This isn’t exactly news. You’re also bombarded with radio waves if you use a cell phone or walk into a supermarket (that little black box above the door is usually blasts you with radio waves to detect your presence).