# "Do not look into microwave" - any valid reason? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-look-into-microwave-any-valid-reason/831386 "2019-03-19T21:39:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-look-into-microwave-any-valid-reason/831386/1 "2019-03-19T21:39:21Z")
The microwave ovens ion my office kitchen have a warning label that among other things says “Do not look closely into oven while it is switched on”. Is there any actual reason why doing so could cause you any harm? Surely the microwaves are contained inside the oven? Is it just to guard in case of any slight leakage due to a badly fitting door? ---
**Author:** ![kleptomaniac](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kleptomaniac/32/466_2.png) [@kleptomaniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kleptomaniac)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-look-into-microwave-any-valid-reason/831386/2 "2019-03-19T21:49:19Z")
Well from probing with a microwave a few years ago and getting an unpleasant heat sensation, I can tell you for one it’s extremely painful. The main harm however I’ve heard is to do with cataract formation from your aqueous humor being “cooked”. The analogy is the white of an egg coming in contact with a frying pan. The proteins in the white just like in your eye coagulate and become hard. But again, the cornea has many nerve endings second to the genitals so if you even got in contact with microwave energy…you would know. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-look-into-microwave-any-valid-reason/831386/3 "2019-03-19T21:58:14Z")
The same reason my cat litter bag says “not for human consumption”. They are covering their asses.IMO ---
**Author:** ![Cleophus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@Cleophus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cleophus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-look-into-microwave-any-valid-reason/831386/4 "2019-03-19T22:00:23Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > The microwave ovens ion my office kitchen have a warning label that among other things says “Do not look closely into oven while it is switched on”. > > Is there any actual reason why doing so could cause you any harm? Surely the microwaves are contained inside the oven? Is it just to guard in case of any slight leakage due to a badly fitting door? An official label from the manufacturer or your workplace and/or vendor with the service contract? That would help explain who is trying to cover whose ass. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-look-into-microwave-any-valid-reason/831386/5 "2019-03-19T22:19:39Z")
The microwave manufacturers subscribe to the works of Friedrich Nietzsche. “If you gaze for long into a microwave oven, the microwave oven gazes also into you.“ ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-look-into-microwave-any-valid-reason/831386/6 "2019-03-19T22:22:39Z")
For some weird reason (the details of which I’m sure I will recall only after submitting this post), the effects of the microwaves are not confined strictly to the inside of the oven, but extend a very short distance beyond the mesh screen of the door - and this is the reason that the mesh is set back a short way before the front transparent glass or plastic. As far as I recall, the effect falls off sharply within a very short distance, but given the specific wording ‘do not look _ **closely** _…’, it seems reasonable to me that the concern is related to that phenomenon - maybe no great actual risk, but manufacturers just erring greatly on the side of caution. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-look-into-microwave-any-valid-reason/831386/7 "2019-03-19T22:30:30Z")
Aha! here we go - this link goes to the part of the video that explains the effect I mentioned above, but I do recommend watching the whole thing, because Steve Mould is such a fun guy! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8bXhsUs-ohw/maxresdefault.jpg "How to film the inside of a microwave (2 ways)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bXhsUs-ohw) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-look-into-microwave-any-valid-reason/831386/8 "2019-03-19T22:37:59Z")
There was a lot more leakage in the early days of domestic microwave use, especially through the door seals. Concern about radiation from domestic appliances began in the 60s when some TVs were found to be emitting x-rays. Since then we have had periodic scares about microwave transmitters, mobile phones etc. The label on a modern microwave cooker is purely a CYA exercise. > [@](#): > > Around the time that consumers began buying microwave ovens, federal regulations became an issue. The Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act of 1968 limited the amount of microwave energy that could leak from an oven throughout its lifetime to 10 milliwatts of microwave radiation per square centimeter (mW/cm²) at 5 cm from the oven’s surface. > > The microwave oven industry, represented by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), felt it was meeting this spec. The oven doors, which were most susceptible to microwave leakage, were designed to limit microwave radiation values to less than the accepted tolerance of 10 mW/cm². Further, the doors were protected with interlocked switches that disabled the microwave power source should someone accidentally open the oven while it was on. > > But a government study conducted at Walter Reed Hospital, in Washington, D.C., found that an alarmingly high percentage of ovens were leaking microwave energy. And the amount often was far in excess of 10 mW/cm². > > In 1970 the U.S. Bureau of Radiological Health set the legal maximum radiation leakage level to 1 mW/cm² or less when the appliance was new and no more than 5 mW/cm² during its lifetime. > > [The Institute - IEEE Spectrum](http://theinstitute.ieee.org/tech-history/technology-history/a-history-of-the-microwave-oven) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-look-into-microwave-any-valid-reason/831386/9 "2019-03-19T23:42:27Z")
> [@](#): > > But a government study conducted at Walter Reed Hospital, in Washington, D.C., found that an alarmingly high percentage of ovens were leaking microwave energy. And the amount often was far in excess of 10 mW/cm². Alarming to the extent non-ionizing radiation can be alarming, I suppose. In short, it isn’t going to cause cancer, it’s just going to make you feel warm. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-look-into-microwave-any-valid-reason/831386/10 "2019-03-19T23:53:36Z")
Heh…the OP’s question reminds me of the line from The Tubes’ “What Do You Want From Life” wherein Fee Waybill rattles off a whole list of things beginning with: \* “…if you’re an American citizen you are entitled to a heated kidney shaped pool, a microwave oven (don’t watch the food cook)…” \* ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-look-into-microwave-any-valid-reason/831386/11 "2019-03-20T00:01:06Z")
No matter how closely you look into it, it won’t cook any faster. Just relax and wait for the beep. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-look-into-microwave-any-valid-reason/831386/12 "2019-03-24T20:30:01Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Note that these were for commercial, not domestic use. Yeah, that makes a huge difference. One time one of my servers handed a baby bottle to the kitchen and said the customer wanted us to microwave it for two minutes. :eek: I nuked it for about 20 seconds. I’m constantly warning newer foodservice employees that the commercial microwave is considerably more powerful than what they have at home. “Start with 20 seconds and go from there.” ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-look-into-microwave-any-valid-reason/831386/13 "2019-04-18T14:26:01Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > That Amana is a nice one. I’ve used one in the concession stand I volunteer in. I’ve wanted one for my house. Too pricey, though. > I don’t like the way microwaves look in a home kitchen. If I ever get the one I want I’m gonna put in under the island counter( if it’s possibe). So it won’t be at eye level. A solid door will be perfect. They do make cabinetry designed to do just exactly what you describe. We considered doing that, when we redid the kitchen at our last house, as there was not otherwise a good place to put one, but I decided it would be too much of a hassle to try to do the controls while bending over that far.