Microwaves - are they safe?

[Jakaluma]

We don't use our microwave much (no reason, just don't seem to cook like that), but I have heard people say they don't use one for health reasons. Does anyone have some good, reliable, scientific information? (rather than pseudo science/conspiracy sites that I get when I google)

[tamarab30]

Lol Kathi - I have done the same as you and only ever get the same answers!

[Marmee]

I have no idea if they are safe or not. I must say that I reckon we would use our microwave daily.

I feel a big sense of nervousness rising in me. Microwave health is something that I hide away from. I would love to read some reliable information....

[sweetchili]

Yeah i havent found much conclusive info either, but i rarely use our microwave; just in case. I remember being told as a child not to stand near it when it is heating. So i do that now too.

[skn]

I remember hearing that as long as the seals are in good condition (no gaps etc) then you don't have anything to worry about.

I'm still cautious about them, but that's just me- I've been reading those pseudo science/conspiracy theories

[hanabi]

This article has no bibiliography but it summarises the outcomes of specific research efforts:
http://www.health-science.com/microwave_hazards.html

This Canadian site does not acknowledge the research in the above article:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv...ro-f-a-eng.php

Scroll down about two pages for an article supporting the first link:
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/alert.htm

This one also denies the quoted research:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Microwave...lth-Issues.htm

This one quotes the same research yet again:
http://www.relfe.com/microwave.html

This Australian site ignores the Swiss research:
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/b...ty_issues?Open

Some info regarding microwaves and plastics from America:
http://www.aces.edu/dept/extcomm/new...sept10c02.html


Basically, it appears that all the articles that suspect microwaves of converting food nutrients into carcinogens quote the same event (the hip surgery patient who received a blood transfusion that had been warmed in a microwave) and the Dr Hans Hertel research, which has not been replicated in over fifteen years. Intuitively, I would suspect that microwave cookery does damage long chain fatty acids (omega 3, for example) and break them down into a less healthy, potentially harmful in huge doses, trans fat form, but other nutrients could well be preserved due to the shorter cooking time. I suppose the lesson is as usual, all things in moderation and varied cooking methods in a varied diet is bound to support our health better than any fanatical attitude to food, health and cooking. What do you all think?

[hanabi]

Well, thanks Kathi for stimulating my curiosity and sending me on a wild search all over the 'net for further information.

Some more clarity:

Microwaving does not preserve nutrients and is particularly damaging to anti-oxidants:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/...nutrients.html

And this from one of my favourite bloggers who puts it all into perspective:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050506.html

The central issue is whether there's such a thing as a "microwave effect"--that is, whether microwaves do anything that conventional heating methods don't. The main way microwaves heat up a plate of leftovers is by causing the food molecules to vibrate--an accelerated version of what ordinary cooking does. The microwave effect, if it exists, is more mysterious and potentially a lot scarier. For example, some conjecture that certain frequencies of microwave radiation can resonate with food, body tissues, and whatnot.
[snip]
For years the common view among scientists has been that the microwave effect is a myth and that whatever happens in a microwave oven happens because stuff gets hot. But disquieting indications to the contrary persistently come to light. For instance, in a paper often cited by microwave foes, doctors at Stanford University (Quan et al, 1992) reported that microwaving frozen breast milk sharply reduced the potency of the natural infection-fighting agents it contained. "The adverse effects . . . are difficult to explain on the basis of hyperthermia [high heat] alone," they wrote.
[snip]
Scientists have long used microwave ovens to heat up their coffee just like everybody else, but in the late 1980s they came to a startling realization: The ovens could greatly accelerate useful chemical reactions, sometimes by a factor of a thousand. Processes that once took hours, days, or months could be completed in minutes, often without the toxic solvents previously required. Initially researchers used consumer-model ovens they bought at the appliance store, but soon realized what chicken potpie lovers had known for years, namely that an ordinary microwave oven is not a precision instrument and often gives unpredictable results. With burgeoning interest in "microwave chemistry" and a corresponding push to improve microwave hardware, a few big heads conceded that maybe it was time to inquire more deeply into how these things actually worked. The matter has yet to be fully elucidated, but already some think the microwave effect may not be a myth after all: "One suggestion," a bunch of chemists wrote recently, "is that this is some form of 'ponderomotive' driving force that arises when high frequency electric fields modulate ionic currents near interfaces with abrupt differences in ion mobility."
You'll excuse me if I don't translate. [snip] Granted, none of this resolves your question, mainly because we still don't have enough info to answer it with anything other than paranoid speculation or empty reassurance. But at least there's the prospect that someday we will.

So I guess we keep watching this space.

[Jakaluma]

thanks for that Jodie! I think your comment

I suppose the lesson is as usual, all things in moderation and varied cooking methods in a varied diet is bound to support our health better than any fanatical attitude to food, health and cooking.

is probably very sound.