Will microwave heating cause harm? 2018-7-13

A few years ago, an article entitled “Please stop using the microwave oven immediately” was heavily forwarded online. The paper lists several evidence that microwave ovens are harmful to the human body and cause cancer.
The article also warns: If you use a microwave oven to cook hot food, it will make the cancer cells fat and strong; the cancer cells will be very happy to eat and say thank you; finally your body will be also eaten together, It may also allow you to spare your family’s property and make you feel uncomfortable.
As a microwave energy industrial application company, customers often ask this question, that is: Will microwave heating cause harm?
This article, with start of why microwave ovens can heat food, is to introduce the characteristics of microwaves, and to analyze the rumors about the harm of microwave ovens.

First what is microwave ?

Like radio waves, infrared rays, and visible light, microwaves are also electromagnetic waves, the difference being that their frequencies are different. Microwave refers to electromagnetic waves with a frequency of 300MHz to 300GHz. It is an abbreviation of a limited frequency band in radio waves, that is, electromagnetic waves with a wavelength between 1mm and 1m. This is also the collective name of decimeter wave, centimeter wave and millimeter wave. The microwave frequency is higher than the general radio wave frequency, which is also commonly referred to as “ultra-high frequency electromagnetic wave”. As an electromagnetic wave microwave also has wave-particle duality. The basic properties of microwaves usually appear as three characteristics of penetration, reflection and absorption. For glass, plastic and porcelain, the microwave is almost traversed without being absorbed. For water and food, they absorb microwaves and heat themselves. For metal things, microwaves are reflected.

Second, why the microwave has heating function？

The food contains water, and the water molecule is a polar molecule. After absorbing the microwave energy, high-speed rotational vibration occurs, thereby rubbing against each other to generate heat. The microwave emitted by microwave ovens is usually 2.45 GHz. That is to say, the molecules in the food vibrate 2.45 billion times per second. At such a speed, the water molecules naturally become “heated” and its temperature has risen sharply in a short time. Once the microwave stops, the rotating electric field disappears, the water molecules are quiet, and their world is restoring calm. In this process, the water molecules themselves are not changed by the microwave, that is, the microwave heating method is a physical change, and the energy is far from enough to change the chemical bonds of the molecules. Not just water molecules, other polar molecules can also be heated by microwaves.

Three, does microwave heating will cause cancer?

Microwave is an electromagnetic wave. In essence, it is the same thing as the mobile phone signal, the electric wave used by the wifi signal, infrared light, and visible light. The frequency of microwaves is higher than that of electric waves and lower than that of infrared and visible light. Electric waves and visible light do not cause cancer, and microwaves which frequency between them naturally do not cause cancer.

Mr. Zhang Zhaowei, a famous microwave expert in China, said that the microwave oven was invented in the United States in 1947, and there has been no epidemiological report on cancer caused by microwave food. Fan Zhihong, an associate professor at the College of Food Science at China Agricultural University, also said that microwaves only heat water molecules in food, and food does not undergo chemical changes, so microwaves do not cause food to produce carcinogens.

Even it helps to avoid the production of carcinogens. For fish, meat and other foods, if we heat them by traditional heating methods such as barbecue frying, they are very easy to zoom, resulting in some carcinogens. A scientific report published in 2004 introduced the carcinogen production and its carcinogenicity. Finally, it was pointed out that heating in a microwave oven can effectively reduce the production of such carcinogens. Therefore,everyone can safely use the microwave oven.

Fourth, is microwave heating safe?

Sunlight is a higher-energy electromagnetic wave than microwaves. Sunlight, is it safe?

The safety of microwaves is the same as that of sunlight: whether or not to harm the human body depends on the strength of energy. The pleasant sunshine makes you feel refreshed, and the sun can cause severe skin burns. The same is true for microwaves, which naturally heat the body since they can heat food. The key to the problem is: How much energy does the microwave reach the human body?

The rule in the United States is that the power per square centimeter is no more than 5 milliwatts at a distance of about 5 cm from the microwave oven; and the standard in our country is more stringent, 1 milliwatt. Moreover, the energy of the microwave is attenuated by the square of the distance. That is to say, if it is 1 milliwatt at 5 cm, it will be reduced to 1/100 milliwatt at 50 cm, which is “human and animal harmless”.

Therefore, for microwave equipment, as long as it is a qualified product, there is no damage during use, and it will not leak microwaves that can harm the human body.

In conclusion:
The argument that microwave heating causes carcinogenicity and produces harmful substances is a rumor;
Qualified microwave equipment can effectively control the leakage of microwaves and is harmless to the human body.

Artical Source:From Internet