What Are the Negative Effects of Microwaves?
Because microwaves use a kind of technology that involves radiation, some have worried the ovens are dangerous. But microwaves don’t use the type of radiation that leads to radiation sickness.
Instead, microwave ovens heat food using electromagnetic “micro” waves that cause water molecules within the food to vibrate. This vibration generates heat that warms the food.
The energy from a microwave could heat body tissues in the same way it heats food, by vibrating molecules. But for this to happen, a person would have to be inside a microwave oven with the door closed, an unlikely occurrence given the size of a typical microwave. If it were to happen, tissues in the body containing water and those closest to the radiation generate the most heat. This heating may cause burns to the skin or cataracts in the eyes.
Raheem Hashmani is a researcher in high energy physics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He says, “the only problem with microwaves would be if you repeatedly exposed yourself to a microwave source, you start to heat up. But this is no different from standing very close to an open flame.”
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