It seems microwave ovens are much more dangerous than making our food too hot... This topic should have been explored long ago by our governments, but has not. Many European countries are issuing notices about the lack of safety in microwaving your food and it sounds like Russia banned them. Here's some more information:

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This is how microwave cooking heat is generated-friction from this violence in water molecules. Structures of molecules are torn apart, molecules are forcefully deformed (called structural isomerism) and thus become impaired in quality.

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Today's established science and technology argues forcefully that microwaved food and irradiated foods do not have any significantly higher "radiolytic compounds" than do broiled, baked or other conventionally cooked foods-but microwaving does produce more of these critters. Curiously, neither established science nor our ever-protective government has conducted tests-on the blood of the eaters-of the effects of eating various kinds of cooked foods. Hertel and his group did test it, and the indication is clear that something is amiss and that larger studies should be funded.

The apparently toxic effects of microwave cooking is another in a long list of unnatural additives in our daily diets.

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From each sample, 50 millilitres of blood was used for the chemistry and five millimetres for the haematology and the luminescence. The haematological examinations took place immediately after drawing the samples. Erythrocytes, haemoglobin, mean haemoglobin concentration, mean haemoglobin content, leukocytes and lymphocytes were measured. The chemical analysis consisted of iron, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol.The results of erythrocyte, haemoglobin, haematocrit and leukocyte determinations were at the "lower limits of normal" in those tested following the eating of the microwaved samples. "These results show anaemic tendencies.

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The situation became even more pronounced during the second month of the study," Hertel added. "And with those decreasing values, there was a corresponding increase of cholesterol values."

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Recent reseaerch shows that microwave oven cooked food suffers severe molecular damage. When eaten, it causes abnormal changes in human blood and immune systems. Not surprisingly the public has been denied details on these significant health dangers

Microwave Hazards Info on this website

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A woman named Norma Levitt had hip surgery, but was killed by a simple blood transfusion when a nurse "warmed the blood for the transfusion in a microwave oven!"

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The violent change that microwaving causes to the food molecules forms new life forms called radiolytic compounds. These are mutations that are unknown in the natural world. Ordinary cooking also causes the formation of some radiolytic compounds (which is no doubt one reason why it is better to eat plenty of raw food), but microwaving cooking causes a much greater number. This then causes deterioration in your blood and immune system.

In addition, they found that the number of leucocytes increases after eating microwaved food - something which haematologists take very seriously, because this is often a sign of highly harmful effects, such as poisoning.

Taken from "Microwave Cooking is Killing You!" Article

And to think I heated up a hot dog in the microwave for lunch...

Everything is dangerous if used wrong, why not open a thread called the dangers of pencils?

There is evidence to show that if the pencil is jabbed intoy our eye it can cause injury and loss of sight.

TVs? if your a fat lazy slob and watch TV more than 6 hours a day your eyes may become strained and you may suffer from headaches.

and so on...

Microwaves are fine, I don't care what anyone says. The microwave has a door and the waves that it emits is sealed by a door, so as long as it isn't cracked, you should be fine. Speaking of microwaves, I am eating microwaved popcorn.

Unless my high school textbook was wrong, the water is indeed heated by friction. As the microwaves pass ever the water molecules, the molecules reverse their polarity--they flip over, in other words, fast enough and in numbers that cause a lot of friction, causing a lot of heat.

The quote doesn't mean that the WATER molecules break down, but OTHER molecules, like the food and cellophane. It's worse than heat radiation, as for the breaking-up-of-molecules sense, becuase microwaves have so much more energy. That and, as I have said before, it doesn't taste as good anyway.

I need a toaster oven...>_>

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This is how microwave cooking heat is generated-friction from this violence in water molecules. Structures of molecules are torn apart, molecules are forcefully deformed (called structural isomerism) and thus become impaired in quality.

The very wording of that paragraph makes me think that this is bogus, or at least heavily biased. The water molecules are NOT torn apart. If they were you'd be seeing some nice fireworks in your microwave before it exploded and shot glass into your face.

The way a microwave works is not that much different than a regular stove. It uses electromagnetic energy (ie. infrared [stove] or microwave [duh]) to heat up primarily the water molecules in the food. The microwave just uses a slightly more energetic wavelength than the heat. Now this may lead to the breakdown of some of the larger more complex molecules in food, but the same thing can happen on your stovetop.
The worst thing I could think of is that microwaves make it easier to overcook the food and destroy it's nutritional value.

As for the cellophane study, I'm not surprised that placing a sheet of long string polymers and plasticizers over your food and heating it up is EVER a good idea. The problem is with the cellophane, not the microwave.

All in all these arguements against microwaves appear to be highly unscientific.

Because they don't ingest themselves. But first, why would you put ants in the microwave?? Secondly, they aren't being exposed to a direct microwave longterm. And lastly, the heat would need to be able to penetrate the exoskeleton in order for the ant to feel it (why it would need to be in there a long time).

when you microwave ants they dont die

I'm sorry. I don't know what so say but to apologize, and let you know that that is not what I meant. I was pointing out how quickly people assumed that you could have been that guy, and so didn't even have anything to say about your post until their skepticism was assuaged. It was sarcasm directed at thier behaviour. I apologize. I ask that you please accept my formal apology. I assure you that I, in fact, did not feel that way. I liked the article quotes you posted, but didn't have too much else to add to support or deny the claims made by the article, but I was in a good mood, so I made a little joke about how microwaved food didn't taste good anyhow, and comically add in a rumor I heard that microwave ovens can be jury-rigged to destroy tracking devices. Okay, I saw it on some anime show, and hoped that someone would either get the reference, or confirm or deny that. The next part was on how he wouldn't trust the post if one guy had posted it, but would if it were someone else, even though it were a direct quote from an article you linked to, so it's not your credibility in question, but the article the quotes came from.
I'm sorry. I'm very embarrassed for making you so angry. I can't apologize enough.

Being serious now, I read the rest of the article on the link you put. That's simply astounding, especially the part about the plastic wrap:

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Claire Nelson learned that di(ethylhexyl)adepate (DEHA), considered a carcinogen, is found in plastic wrap...
[A] research center ... let her use its facilities to perform her experiments, which involved microwaving plastic wrap in virgin olive oil.

Claire tested four different plastic wraps and "found not just the carcinogens but also xenoestrogen was migrating [into the oil]...." Xenoestrogens are linked to low sperm counts in men and to breast cancer in women. Throughout her junior and senior years, Claire made a couple of trips each week to the research center, which was 25 miles from her home, to work on her experiment. An article in Options reported "her analysis found that DEHA was migrating into the oil at between 200 parts and 500 parts per million. The FDA standard is 0.05 parts per billion."

Just...astounding. Wanted to point out that part to other board members.

And you don't even know Joey, yet you fool around with the idea that I might be him. And yes, you did imply that you felt that way with your "joke". Way to be. I think it'll be a while before you earn my respect. Mostly because you are new to this site and I don't know you, but the first big thing you do is joke around on my thread about me being the guy just about everyone on this site hates.

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Hey dickwad, I'm not Joey! Shut up newbie!

>_< The point I was making is that people were apprehensive because they thought that you could have been this 'Joey' person, but since you aren't, your post is suddenly entertaining and/or informative instead of untrustworthy and/or a waste of time.

I know you aren't Joey. I could tell how aggrivated you were when people were speculating that you may have been an alt. of his, so I wouldn't even suggest it. Besides, if you read a line down, you see that it is a joke, and I might add, not at your expense.

I'm a newbie here, but message boards are nothing new to me. Just this one, big whoop.

But good call, I am, in fact a dickwad. You wouldn't BELIEVE how hard it is to type...

Er. That was a joke, too, at my expense. Self-depridcating humor, look at the clown dance. Just trying to get a chuckle, lighten the mood.

¬_¬ Pheh. I apologize for the confusion. Just...don't do that to me, alright? I'm trying to be nice, dammit...It's rather hard to do here.

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clpo: So, if it looks like a Joey post, tastes like a Joey post, reads like a Joey post, but Joey did't post it...it can be trusted?
Who said that you could start trusting people? Back in the corner!

Hey dickwad, I'm not Joey! Shut up newbie!

That, and microwaved food doesn't taste as good.

Hey, conspiracy-theory nuts! Here's some good news! If you open your microwave and push in the little door-close detection switch, then turn on the microwave for just a few seconds, it can destroy the transmitter they put in the back of your neck when you were born, or while you were asleep, for those born before 1983!

I know, I know, I made a retarded post, but I've been making too many serious ones today.

clpo: So, if it looks like a Joey post, tastes like a Joey post, reads like a Joey post, but Joey did't post it...it can be trusted?
Who said that you could start trusting people? Back in the corner!

...ohyeah, people don't play along with jokes on these boards...my bad.

Thanks Kharybdis

Heh, never mind. I somehow skipped over this part:

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The reason I posted this originally was to see if anyone else knew about the claims, and if there was any truth to the claims, that there is a link between microwaving food and liver and kidney failure.

I'd edit my previous posts, but it's a bit late for that. My apologies.

Do you have any decent sources?

Okay, was that aimed at me? If so, do I really have to explain the point of this thread once again?

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NEXUS is an international bi-monthly alternative news magazine, covering the fields of: Health Alternatives; Suppressed Science; Earth's Ancient Past; UFOs & the Unexplained; and Government Cover-Ups.

That's a phenomenally credible source right there.

Sorry, but no. That's not what I meant by it. Again, I was wondering if anyone would know anything about the claim that microwaving food can lead to kidney and liver failure.

I don't really buy this stuff that microwaving food screws up your body, but if a nurse did microwave blood before a transfusion then I understand why the person died.
I actually thought this thread was going to be about microwave radiation leakage. Such as if the door of the microwave gets slammed shut a lot it won't have a good seal and a lot of the radio frequency radiation comes out.

I am not Joey, you would have known that long ago if I was.

The reason I posted this originally was to see if anyone else knew about the claims, and if there was any truth to the claims, that there is a link between microwaving food and liver and kidney failure.