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During the Second World War two British scientists invented a tube that could produce microwave radiation. They called it the magnetron.
When they then combined the magnetron with the British radar system, the microwaves were able to detect German fighters that were conducting bombing missions against England.
Percy LeBaron Spencer of Raytheon also accidentally discovered that microwave radiation could cook food when a candy bar in his pocket melted during experiments.
It didn’t take long before the first microwave ovens reached the market. At first they were large and heavy and more resembled a refrigerator. Gradually they became smaller and turned into a common household appliance.
However, current studies find that microwaves can seriously endanger your health.
How do microwaves cook food?
The alternating electromagnetic field causes atoms to be forced to change their magnetic orientation.
This in turn causes vibration and friction of the water molecules that are present in the food.
The external manifestation of these vibrations is an increase in the temperature of the heated food. That is the basic principle by which microwaves work.
How can microwaves be dangerous?
Every microwave oven is designed so that microwave radiation at a frequency around 2.45 GHz remains only inside it and does not penetrate outside. This is achieved by means of the so-called Faraday cage (metal enclosure).
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The problem is that this mesh is not perfect and a small part of the radiation always escapes.
The situation worsens over time as the microwave ages, because the door fits worse with constant use.
Since the intensity of the radiation inside is very high, even a few percent of escaped radiation can harm the body. Unfortunately, one only realizes it once damage has already occurred.
How does microwave radiation harm our body?
Here is a list of possible consequences that microwave radiation can cause:
- developmental defects of the fetus – pregnant women should not stay near microwaves
- cancer
- cataracts – as a result of an insufficient amount of blood vessels in the eye that would reduce cellular stress and carry away accumulated heat
- weakened immunity
- reduced resistance to viral and bacterial infections
- many other serious illnesses
On the introductory image, for example, you can see the result of an experiment where one plant was watered with water boiled on gas (sample no. 1) and the other in a microwave (sample no. 2). Of course, after boiling the water was first allowed to cool.
While the first plant did quite well, the second one died after a while.
What do microwaves do to our food?
Microwave ovens not only harm directly by leaking radiation into the environment, but also directly change the structure and health safety of the heated food.
The reason is the fact that microwave radiation can break chemical molecular bonds.
Swiss scientist Hans Hertel found in his study that microwaves degrade and strip foods of many nutrients. The radiation destroys and deforms molecules in food and also creates dangerous toxic compounds in it.
In 1992 the study association Search for Health examined the effect of consuming vegetables heated in microwaves on the health of the study participants.
It found the following:
- the blood cholesterol level increased rapidly
- the hemoglobin level decreased to the point of borderline anemia
- the white blood cell count increased (which means poisoning and cellular damage)
If we look, for example, at the composition of breast milk, after heating it in a microwave it loses up to 96% of antibodies. Its amino acid structures also change, thereby accentuating its immunological abnormalities.
Conclusion
Even if microwaves are sufficiently sealed, you can still be exposed to dangerous levels of electromagnetic radiation.
The US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) limits exposure to electromagnetic fields to 0.5 to 2.5 mG.
If you stand 15 cm from a microwave while it is running, you will be exposed within a few minutes to radiation of 100 to 500 mG. Even if you stood 1 meter away from it, you would still absorb a dose of 1 to 25 mG!
Microwaves may be more convenient and faster than conventional ovens, however they deprive food of nutrients and create toxic substances, which isn’t really worth the convenience.
