Will the use of a microwave oven cause cancer?

is that true

In recent years, the topic of carcinogenicity in microwave ovens has often appeared in Weibo and WeChat friends. Although industry associations and companies often stand up and blame, but after a while, similar news will once again enter our field of vision. Will the use of the microwave oven cause harm to us? Is the news on the Internet true? Today, we invite experts from the quality inspection center to identify the true and false of the relevant rumors.

Witness: Peng Yu

Answer Expert: Huang Zhicheng (Engineer of National Daily Electrical Quality Supervision and Inspection Center)

Is the microwave radiation generated by the microwave oven harmful to the human body?

Microwave radiation does cause damage to the human body, mainly three kinds of thermal effects, electromagnetic effects, and cumulative effects.

The thermal effect means that the water molecules of the human body rub against each other to generate heat after being subjected to microwave radiation, which causes the body temperature balance function to be out of balance, and is prone to headache, dizziness, dry eyes, eyelids, chest tightness and other adverse symptoms. Experiments have shown that women who have been exposed to microwave generators for a long time are prone to menstrual cycle disorder and destroy the process of ovulation; pregnant women are exposed to microwave heat for a long time in the early stage or before pregnancy, which may easily lead to infant malformation.

The electromagnetic effect means that the microwave can damage the balance state of the weak electromagnetic field of the human body, thereby causing human body damage. Experiments have shown that electromagnetic radiation causes a decrease in the percentage of white blood cells that phagocytose bacteria and the number of bacteria that are engulfed. It should be noted that electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phones or WiFi signals can also produce electromagnetic effects for human organs and tissues.

Cumulative effect refers to the effect of microwave thermal effect and electromagnetic effect on the human body. Before the damage to the human body has not been self-repaired, if it is subjected to microwave radiation again, the degree of damage will accumulate, and it will become a permanent morbid state and endanger life.

It is said that because microwave ovens may cause cancer, developed countries such as Europe and the United States have not used microwave ovens. Is it true?

Microwave ovens are widely used in all countries of the world, whether in school cafeterias, restaurants or hotels. China is the world's largest microwave processing industry, manufacturing and exporting country. At present, more than 80% of the microwave ovens in the world are processed and manufactured in China. According to China's microwave oven export data released by the National Bureau of Statistics and the General Administration of Customs, in 2014, China exported 44.86 million microwave ovens, a large part of which was sold to developed countries and regions such as Europe, North America and Australia.

The value of microwave radiation is closely related to the distance. The closer the radiation is, the bigger the radiation is. Is this true?

We use the electromagnetic radiation tester to test the radiation value of a working microwave oven: when it is close to the surface of the appliance, the microwave leakage is 0.08mW/cm2; at 4mm from the surface of the appliance, the microwave leakage is 0.07mW/cm2; At 10 cm of the door, the microwave leakage amount is 0.04 mW/cm2; the microwave radiation amount is 0.01 mW/cm2 at a distance of 30 cm from the furnace door; and the microwave radiation is 0 mW/cm2 at a distance of 33 cm from the furnace door. At present, the international standards for microwave leakage in microwave ovens and the limits of national standards in China are 5mW/cm2 under normal conditions.

This set of data indicates that microwave leakage can only occur around the door, and microwave radiation decays rapidly with increasing distance. When consumers use the microwave oven, try to stand outside the microwave for one meter, so that the harm caused by microwave radiation can be effectively avoided.

It is said that the national standard is â€œrelaxedâ€ for microwave microwave radiation in the microwave oven. Is this true?

At present, the International Electrotechnical Commission IEC has established a safety requirement standard for microwave ovens, the microwave leakage limit of normal working conditions is 5mW/cm2, and the abnormal state (such as no food in the empty carrier cavity) is 10mW/cm2.

The current national standard GB 4706.21-2008 "Safety microwave oven for household and similar electrical appliances, including special requirements for combined microwave ovens" stipulates that the microwave leakage should not exceed 5mW/cm2 at any point 50mm or more from the outer surface of the microwave oven.

Tracking the data of type tests and national product quality supervision and spot checks in recent years shows that the microwave leakage of normal and abnormal conditions of microwave ovens in China is far less than the limits set by mandatory national standards.

Eating food cooked in a microwave oven, the radiation absorbed by the food during the process of being added is automatically absorbed by the body. Is this true?

Microwaves are absorbable, and the principle of cooking in microwave ovens is to cause frictional heating of food water molecules by means of microwaves. From the point of view of the law of conservation of energy, the electromagnetic energy emitted by the microwave has been converted into heat energy during the cooking process, and the microwave is not stored in the food, so there is no problem of being absorbed by the human body.

When cooking food in a microwave oven, if you can smell the food, it means that the microwave oven is not tightly sealed, which will cause microwave leakage. Is this true?

To prevent microwave leakage, it is mainly not by sealing, but by the anti-flow device on the structure of the furnace door. Physically speaking, the microwave frequency generated by the microwave oven is 2450 MHz, the wavelength is about 12 cm, and the diameter of the metal hole of the observation window on the microwave oven door does not exceed 0.3 cm, and the gap of the door seal does not exceed 0.5 cm, so theoretically, It is impossible for the microwave to "wear" out of the oven door.

Proven reminder

When purchasing, first check whether there is a CCC certification mark on the product.

The door should be lightly closed to avoid hitting the door with heavy objects.

When working in a microwave oven, personnel should try to stay away from the microwave oven at a distance of 1 m. Do not look at the microwave oven with the eyes close to the window of the microwave oven door.

Microwave cooking utensils can not use metal and enamel products, because the metal has a reflective effect on the microwave, which not only affects the heating of the food, but also causes the microwave to contact the metal to generate sparks, which is dangerous.