This site is not a technical site, but it’s just an example of what’s being said out there. I would like straight dope on why the site and the anti-micro movement is bubcus. Thanks.
It’s mostly bullshit. First, their explanation of how the ovens work is wrong. See my Staff Reports on the subject. Secondly, microwavew radiation is not ionizing and cannot cause protein denaturing, except to the extent that any heating process can. Heat is heat. There is no difference between the type of heat generated by a stovetop or conventional oven and that caused by microwaves. I have yet to see any reputable studies that support any of the claims that this site makes. Yes, exposure to high levels of microwave emissions can cause cataracts and nerve damage, however, leakage levels in modern ovens are so low as to present negligible risk. The FDA has limited leakage emissions from new ovens to 5 mW/cm[sup]2[/sup] at a distance of 5 cm from the outer surface.
Fortunately, we have people like Q.E.D. to help dispel the fearmongering.
I have little to add, except that I once worked for a maunfacturer of RF data communications equipment that operated at up to 2.4 GHz. To the best of my knowledge, our staff’s cancer rate was about normal, in spite of the fact that we were bathed in varying frequencies of RF waves daily (from the test systems in the plant next to the office). I’m feeling fine as I post this, and that was years ago. I don’t know anybody from that workplace who was diagnosed with cancer as a result of any kind of RF radiation.
Hauss, I’m afraid I can’t help you much, except with anecdotal evidence. But RF is RF and heat is heat (as Q.E.D. said) and I doubt very much that either has an influence on your health. The major hazard that would appear to come from microwaving a Big Mac would seem to be from the fats and suchlike that are already in the Big Mac itself.
Put it this way. If microwave ovens are so dangerous, why aren’t radar technicians (who get a heck of a lot more RF exposure) dropping like flies?
Here’s another thought: Why aren’t the guys who take back the carts at the supermarket also dropping like flies? In case you never noticed, that little black box above the door beams microwaves STRAIGHT AT YOU to figure out whether or not to open the door. At least your oven tries to keep all of the RF inside the box.
Actually, there’s so much psuedoscience crap out there on the subject that it takes an expert to wade through all of it (and sometimes you need some really tall waders, let me tell you). Worse, occasionally reputable studies do come along which find links between RF and various things. Then the follow-up studies don’t find the same connection, but that hardly makes for front page news. It’s easy to see why people are so often confused on the subject. Having one group that says its safe and the other saying its the worst thing since the plague, and both groups being quite vocal and strongly opinionated, doesn’t help folks sort it out for themselves either.
“In my new book MILABS: Military Mind Control and Alien Abduction, which is co-authored by my wife, we reviewed hypnosis transcripts of MILAB abductees …”
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“survival tips for healers and therapists. Advice on choosing a Reiki Master, the dangers and benefits of Reiki therapy, negative entities from the astral realms and psychic protection.”
I suspect the health hazards of reading this tripe are far worse than microwave emissions
Robert Park’s book Voodoo Science has a couple good chapters on the hysteria centered around electrical & magnetic fields from microwave ovens, power lines, etc.
Dr. Park’s book should be required reading for everyone. He’s also got a weekly column that contains a lot of gems: http://www.aps.org/WN/. Spend some time perusing the archives of that column - he knows what he’s talking about, and has a deliciously dry wit, to boot.
Microwave ovens clearly have a negative effect on food.
What many dishonest websites don’t say is that MOST FORMS OF COOKING have an even worse effect.
If you “brown” the surface of food, you create all kinds of mutagents (mild carcinogens). So, if microwaved oatmeal is supposedly bad, then bread baked in a conventional oven must be absolutely lethal, and don’t even get me started about outdoor barbeque or hamburgers fried on hot metal!
Me, I suspect that microwave ovens should be classed as “health-food devices” right next to vegetable juicers and bamboo Japanese steaming baskets.
The question remains: are microwave ovens bad for mysterious molecular-resonance reasons, or are they bad because they (gasp!) cause food to become hot? Everyone knows that raw meat and vegetables are the most “natural” foods, and heating your food tends to break down vitamins. See http://www.paleodiet.com
Do those things actually use microwaves? I have always thought they are standard passsive IR motion sensors, but I’d be happy to learn that I’ve been wrong. I’d love to see a cite before accepting it though.
Oh yes. Microwave ovens being more dangerous than ‘conventional’ ovens is just plain silly. (Although at one point I shared kitchen with a guy who had an old rusty microwave which leaked quite a lot. I had one of those mobile phone sensitive vibrators, and it went off whenever he used the micro. Spending prolonged time next to that might be dangerous in the long term, but modern micros are well shielded.)
Some are PIR, some are microwave-doppler.
PIR devices can’t usually detect direction of movement, whereas microwave doppler units can be set up to only open the doore when an object is moving toward it, they are also less senitive to environmental variations.
No cite here, you’ll just have to rely on my memory.
Automatic door-openers, until around the mid seventies, used pressure switches contained in rubber mats on either side of the door. From about that time, the microwave sensors were widely introduced. By around 1980, they were nearly all microwave operated.
There was some use of the ultrasonic transducers starting at about that time, but they never really caught on for that application.
The PIR things started to appear in the mid eighties, and have taken over (almost) completely for indoor applications. Sunlight overwhelms the things, however. Nearly all outdoor installations still use microwave.
There are 4 basic types of automatic door openers that I can think of. You can use IR, RF, an IR beam, or a pressure mat. Judging from the way my radar detector used to beep (back when I had one) the RF version is by far the most commonly used in grocery stores. I’ve never seen an IR beam detector used in a grocery store but I’ve seen them in other uses. For indoor use I suspect you’ll find more IR than RF. For outdoor uses, sunlight really plays havoc with the IR versions.
No cite here, you’ll just have to rely on my memory.
Automatic door-openers, until around the mid seventies, used pressure switches contained in rubber mats on either side of the door. From about that time, the microwave sensors were widely introduced. By around 1980, they were nearly all microwave operated.
There was some use of the ultrasonic transducers starting at about that time, but they never really caught on for that application.
The PIR things started to appear in the mid eighties, and have taken over (almost) completely for indoor applications. Sunlight overwhelms the things, however. Nearly all outdoor installations still use microwave.
In a recent column, he wrote about the testimony of an “obscure physicist” to congress, regarding space shuttle crystal growth “experiments.” If you followed the link to actually read the testimony, you would find that this obscure physicist was none other than… Dr. Robert Park.