Microwaves dangerous?

i keep hearing 2 stories.

my mom works at a hospital and said a few nurses/docs have told her microwaves, in the long-run (whatever that means), could be dangerous and should use it as little as possible.

on the other hand, some people say use it as much as you want and nothing will happen.

what do you think?

I've always stood away from them while i'm nuking something.

Plastic when heated in the microwave increases the carcinogens so I always try to cover stuff with a paper towel and try to avoid tv dinners.

never heard that microwaves are dangerous...i know there are some things that you should not put in the microwave.

Originally Posted by Little_Lisa Plastic when heated in the microwave increases the carcinogens so I always try to cover stuff with a paper towel and try to avoid tv dinners. Ditto

I don't worry about them. Of course, 50 years from now who knows what they will say. So many things that used to be good are bad and vice versa. It's difficult to keep up with everything.

I've always heard some small sense of radiation does emit from microwaves when in use. Pregnant women and children are recommended to stay away from them while in use. In general, I've always made sure I wasn't in front of the microwave while it was in use. Something else I've always heard is to be careful of heated water from the microwave. Apparently there's been reports of people heating water in the microwave, and then added a tea bag, sugar or instant coffee and the cup "exploded," or even just when they stuck the spoon in... As of yet this hasn't happened to me, but I have to admit, I wait on it to happen *lol*

well if your an idiot like me just dont pop open the door before the timer is up or while your still in the middle of microwaving!!! yes im an idiot for doing it, until my sister in law scared the hell out of me and told me that im giving myself cancer by slowly exposing me to radiation rays!!!!!!!! i guess that explains my hair falling off like crazy in the last year and a half!!!!! and i swear im not trying to be funny even thoguh it sounds funny i am totally serious!!!!

Originally Posted by makeupfreak72 well if your an idiot like me just dont pop open the door before the timer is up or while your still in the middle of microwaving!!! yes im an idiot for doing it, until my sister in law scared the hell out of me and told me that im giving myself cancer by slowly exposing me to radiation rays!!!!!!!! i guess that explains my hair falling off like crazy in the last year and a half!!!!! and i swear im not trying to be funny even thoguh it sounds funny i am totally serious!!!! REally? Is that true? I open it before the timer is up all the time!

Originally Posted by bluebird26 REally? Is that true? I open it before the timer is up all the time! well it has long term affects, like down the road you know you can develop something, of course i dont do that anymore, and you really really really shouldnt either!!!!!

Originally Posted by makeupfreak72 well it has long term affects, like down the road you know you can develop something, of course i dont do that anymore, and you really really really shouldnt either!!!!! I won't now!

We rarely use ours maybe once a month, but here is an interesting site that tells you some of the reasons not to use a microwave. Its a choice only you can make.

http://www.i-amperfectlyhealthy.com/microwave.html

It's hard to do without a microwave these days. I can't even remember when we didn't have one! I do worry about the radiation a bit, and just leave the microwave to finish up other things. I've also been told that if you have thyroid problems, microwave radiation can aggravate that.

I think it's not true that microwaves are dangerous.

What microwave does is only making the water on the food vibrate fast so it produces heat (like when you shiver when you're cold). The heat on the water will cook the food like it's done by the fire heat.

And in fact i was reading that site mentioned above... i can't say how exaggerated is the info there , to say the least. (i don't want to get into it, otherwise people will call me crazy/drama creator) But people have the right to make their own choices

one of my housemates in college would get freaked out about the microwave. it was on a shelf area abouve the counters, so i would open it in front of him, and he would freak out and duck down so he wouldn't get radiation. lol

Originally Posted by Liz one of my housemates in college would get freaked out about the microwave. it was on a shelf area abouve the counters, so i would open it in front of him, and he would freak out and duck down so he wouldn't get radiation. lol He'd duck down? LOL

Originally Posted by Liz one of my housemates in college would get freaked out about the microwave. it was on a shelf area abouve the counters, so i would open it in front of him, and he would freak out and duck down so he wouldn't get radiation. lol LOL!
thanks for the replies, everyone!

Who knows! It seems like everything is "bad"

hhhmm

I was so not trusting of microwaves that I didn't buy one until last year after I found out how they work. I read that the waves are really short so even if the door was open they couldn't reach you! They actually give off less radiation than a cellular phone. Also they work by causing the water molecules in food to vibrate really fast to generate heat. Most scientist say that this doesn't change the food in any way but a few think it does.

Like anything, it's fine in moderation but don't cook all your meals this way. I read that barbequed food is really bad - charring creates carcinogenics apparently. But ok if you only have it once in a while.

This link is interesting Microwave oven - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia