Microwave Radiation safety?

My parents are elderly and I was thinking of buying them a microwave so I don't have to worry about them burning down the house. My concern is my Dad's pacemaker in his chest. What I was thinking was using thin gauge steel to surround 5 of the six sides of the microwave leaving the back open facing the outside wall of their house for cooling. For the front, I would construct a top hinge for the "face plate" to catch any microwaves that may leak out from the front.

Do you guys think this would work?

Would aluminum be just as effective as steel?

Thanks for your help.

Microwave radiation (and any RF radiation) falls off tremoundously with distance using the inverse-squared law. Unless you have a defective oven with leaky door seals, I wouldn't worry too much about it. That microwave energy would have to penetrate his skin first, and the amount of energy that would be left after traveling through the air and through his skin would likely be negligible.

That's very good of you to be so concerned for him though.

BTW, they way that you notice a leaky microwave oven (if you don't have a meter) is by your eyes drying out when it's running. I ran across a leaky oven at work once and I noticed that my eyes would suddenly feel heavy and a little gritty a couple of seconds after it was turned on. I noticed the same effect from a microwave tv transmitter once. In both cases we took care of the problem fast!

In general, microwave ovens control radiation by two methods... The first is a steel sheel (microwaves are reflected off of solid steel surfaces). The second is for gaps (like doors), they use a material that absorbs any leaking radiation and convert it into heat.

The problem with creating your own enclosure is that you actually make the problem worse by the gaps in your enclosure (door/hinges). Any stray radiation could be focused (resonating slot antennas) and increase the amount of microwave radiation--in a particular direction.

The best thing to do is keep the door aligned and door jam areas clean.

Also, the wave lengths of radiation used in a microwave oven don't penetrate very far--so any deeply implanted devices should not be affected anyway.

And, a cellular phone (or wireless home phone) transmission is going to be 10x-1000x stronger than any normally operating microwave oven leakage.

I would not worry about it... You can search around and talk with your doctor about their recommendations... Here is one:

CHF Patients .com

Living with your pacemaker - Before leaving the hospital after your implant, you will be given specific instructions about everything: showering, driving, returning to work, and so on. You will get an ID card to put in your wallet, clearly stating that you have a pacemaker, and giving details.

You can be around (and operate) many appliances such as: microwave ovens, hair dryers, clothes washers and dryers, vacuum cleaners, toasters, blenders and food processors, radios, stereos (don't linger around the speakers though), and televisions. Ask your doctor for a complete list and use the links on this page for more information.

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The only major surprise is to avoid speakers (large magnets and changing magnetic fields)... Makes sense, large magnetic fields are hard to shield against and can cause low frequency voltages/currents that may swamp the heart monitoring sensors.

-Bill

:thinking: I fail to see how a microwave will interfere greatly with a pacemaker.

greenLED said:

:thinking: I fail to see how a microwave will interfere greatly with a pacemaker.

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a microwave oven probably wont. but to get a good idea of how microwaves would interfere, drop your remote control into the microwave for about 8 seconds.

(DON'T ACTUALLY DO THIS!!!)

A pacemaker is an electronic device. Any electronic device can potentially be destroyed by microwaves. If you've ever seen tin foil in a microwave, you know how dangerous metal is in a microwave as well.

Nuke a Lightbulb?

mrsinbad said:

My parents are elderly and I was thinking of buying them a microwave so I don't have to worry about them burning down the house. My concern is my Dad's pacemaker in his chest.

Click to expand...

I have repaired microwave ovens when I used to run an appliance repair business. If you are purchasing a microwave oven, there is very little to fear from "leaking" microwave energy. The seals, materials and door safety interlock switches used in microwave ovens are sufficient to prevent occurences of that type. In any event, microwave ovens, even commercial ovens, aren't going to cause any problems. Pacemakers have been shielded from electromagnetic energy for many years now, so once again, there is nothing to fear from microwave oven radiation.

Also, microwaves and burns from steam/hot liquids/etc. are a problem too... If you do get a microwave for your parents, make sure that they are comfortable with running them (my Mom and Dad had issues with pushing buttons as they got old).

-Bill

Pacemakers are typically housed in electron beam-welded titanium or stainless steel "cans," and are immune to RF/microwave energy. I'm not so sure regarding the internal leads to the heart. I have one (paperweight ) from the '70's and it's potted, clear epoxy. For many years, I could connect a DMM and watch it tick.

Larry

I've stuck my hand into a running public microwave before (latch was faulty and I didn't notice it was running when I went to put something in) and while it's not something I'd do again on purpose, it didn't really seem dangerous, just a crawling electric shock sensation.

You can customize a CD-R with an interesting fractal pattern in two seconds with one, but even a thin sheet of aluminum foil serves as effective shielding. Some of the more robustly built microwave ovens actually recommend using foil to prevent overcooking thinner parts of birds. A metal pacemaker has nothing to worry about.

There are microwave leak detector cards available; I think they are just liquid-crystal thermometers. And elderly folks would probably appreciate a microwave with knobs/dials just like their old TV.

BTW there are now regular electric ranges that time out after a set number of hours.

zigziggityzoo said:

A pacemaker is an electronic device. Any electronic device can potentially be destroyed by microwaves. If you've ever seen tin foil in a microwave, you know how dangerous metal is in a microwave as well.

Click to expand...

Of course, but who's going to rip off a pacemaker off a person's chest and place it inside a microwave!? The risk of interference is nill - no need to worry.

Back in my Army days, I attended a class on surveying microwave ovens. All microwave ovens are shielded on ALL sides and have an interlock on the door that shuts off the microwave if you open the door. We were using a $2000 microwave survey meter and we never found a leaking oven or a door interlock that didn't work.

We did scare the bejeezus out of a bunch of people when we would come into break areas and start messing around with their ovens!

We were Health Physics Techs ....Radiation Protecion Techs today. We were being trained up to survey for non-ionizing radiation (microwaves).

So my take away from all your wonderful responses is that "I have nothing to fear, but fear itself." Thank you all for your thoughtful responses!

tvodrd, you sound like my brother in law who suggested I buy the titanium ball joint of a hip replacement! If I had a spare femur, I could have a short walking stick! But I like your idea too!

bfg9000, any idea where I can get one of those microwave leak cards? I just don't think PC Richards/Frys/Target will have them on their shelves. Unfortunately, their stove is gas and pretty far from the electrical panel, so it would be really expensive when all is said and done, but that is good info to know as I was thinking of that very thing.

Actually, I got my micro wave leak detection card at Frys. I don't remember the department.

Daniel

I bought one of those leak detector cards at Lowes several years ago. Other home improvement stores or appliance stores probably have them as well. Maybe appliance repair companies have them too.

find out what kind of pacemaker he's got and what the manufacturers say about it. Early models had a reed switch to reset them to some lower heartbeat or to put them into programing mode or something, so if you walked through a strong magnetic field it would reset the thing. That was the danger, not that it would fry it or something.

That being said, modern microwaves dont leak more than a few milliwatts of power unless they are damaged and the strength of the field drops of rapidly. So rapidly that just inches away it would be gone as far as doing any heating. Just because it can still shut down an 802.11 network doesn't mean that you shouldn't stand next to the thing Unless there is something wrong with the microwave there is no reason to think that any case you make can make it any safer.

tvodrd said:

Pacemakers are typically housed in electron beam-welded titanium or stainless steel "cans," and are immune to RF/microwave energy. I'm not so sure regarding the internal leads to the heart. I have one (paperweight ) from the '70's and it's potted, clear epoxy. For many years, I could connect a DMM and watch it tick.

Larry

Click to expand...

All currently manufactured pacemakers, at least those made by Guidant, St. Jude and Medtronic, are not effected at all by microwave radiation. However, as others have stated, avoid placing a magnet over the device. That will deactivate the device until the magnet is removed.

If anyone is interested in the true clinical answer I'll check with one of my reps tomorrow. We've got two pacers scheduled.

BTW the current internal Defibrillators make a better paperweight!

Big_Ed said:

I bought one of those leak detector cards at Lowes several years ago. Other home improvement stores or appliance stores probably have them as well. Maybe appliance repair companies have them too.

Click to expand...

I bought a microwave leak detection meter at Radio Shack many years ago. I don't know if they still carry it but it's worth asking. You can survey an oven for leaks much more quickly with it than using the LCD card.

Wow, thanks for the suggestions on the leak detectors. Guess I'll be going to Lowes, as that is the closest. Thanks again for all the suggestions.

BTW, I called my Dad's cardiologist and he confirms the use of microwave ovens are OK by and near my Dad.

I think a bigger risk is children sitting/standing in front of them watching the food go around and around and around and...

Occasionally the glass on conventional oven doors explodes. How about on microwave ovens?

the oven window explodes?! I've never heard of that, but I have heard of damaged glass cookware exploding. Thats frightening, can't let the glass get too hot or cool too quickly...

The window of the microwave isn't glass anyway, and it doesn't get hot, so it wont explode.

no radiation at all comes out the plastic front, it's all very well captured by that grounded wire mesh you see behind it. Some small amount of radiation will leak out the door seals, more if they are damaged or if the door doesn't close properly, and at that point it's time to get a new oven anyway.