CompleteCollectionJune1,2004Irecentlyboughtaused.doc

Complete Collection June 1, 2004 I recently bought a used microwave oven. The enamel coating under the glass turntable tray is rusted in a ring around the track that the turntable rotates on. Should I repair this or is it ok to just use it as is? – AA, Kettering, Ohio As long as the oven’s metal bottom is sound underneath the rust, there isn’t a problem. The cooking chamber walls are so thick and highly conducting that they reflect the microwaves extremely well even when they have a little rust on them. However, if the metal is so rusted that it loses most of its conductivity in the rust sites, you’ll get local heating across the rusty patches and eventually leakage of microwaves. If you’re really concerned that there may be trouble, run the microwave oven empty for about 20 seconds and then (carefully!) touch the rusty spots. If they aren’t hot, then the metal underneath is doing its job just fine. March 26, 2004 While shopping for a new microwave I was asking the salesperson at a local store some questions regarding microwaves. He proceeded to tell me how dangerous they were and that they used to sell some sort of testers to see if the new microwaves they were selling leaked radiation. He told me that they all did and that microwaves give off harmful radiation. He said that it affects the food that we cook in it and can cause cancer. He said Think about it, when you get an x-ray the tech covers himself with a lead shield and here we are putting our food into this and there is no lead shield. Needless to say I did not purchase a microwave yesterday, and was wondering if you could please give me some insight on this and tell me is what this salesperson told me is true. Are microwave ovens really harmful? Do they cause cancer? What about the food, does it become toxic. A friend of mine is totally into all organic food and she unplugged her microwave years ago and never used it since. She swears it is harmful. Please help. Heating food in a pot is so inconvenient!!