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In our modern societies there are lots of cancer risk involved that (most) people can not see.

For example using a microwave with microscopic cracks in the glass and staying nearby. All the diesel particles and exhaust car fumes and tire dust in the cities. The terrible air quality near maritime ports because of the bad quality ships do with ultra cheap fuels.

The extermination of gut microbiota with the use of pesticides and the use of artificial sweeteners.

Genetically engineered food that is flooded in pesticides(engineered so the plant can withstand them).

The excess use of liquid oils and refined sugars that were never consumed by humans and that are correlated with cancer and cardiovascular disease.

The excess use of the fridge and premade foods making essential nutrients go away as the food freezes, so you eat but starve.

Contraceptive pills that are hormone bombs in your body.

Chemical products like benzene that industries like energy extraction's leak on aquifers and Perfluorooctanoic acid you could generate just burning a teflon pan you forget to put oil or butter in(or using the 3d printer with exotic materials).

All of those risk can be extreme but most people just can't see it. I have seen people burn out a teflon pan and not understand that they have to trow it away immediately. I have seen people handling benzene like water.

You can believe that you are eating healthy because you eat lots of vegetables but if those are flooded in pesticides, then it is not so healthy.



Why does the glass matter in a microwave oven? I thought the metal box (and the metal mesh) was enough to block.


I too am curious - if I had to speculate, maybe the crack is a high surface area for microwave scattering which means the rays escape the device so is an irradiation hazard?

EDIT wavelength of microwaves is 1mm so could also be efficient diffraction

Long time since I've had to think about these things... Unsure...


Microwave radiation is non-ionizing, it does not pose a cancer risk in the same sense that X-rays or UV light does. A quick DDG search found one article that matches GPs claim, but had zero citations and did not support any of its claims. I don’t know about the other claims, but the microwave cancer risk doesn’t make sense to me.


Even then, why would it cause cancer? Microwaves are long wavelength and should only heat things.


This list is a roller coaster.

- proven carcinogenics: car fumes, by far

- proven carcinogenics that causes VERY LOW risk for most people (pesticides, benzene, teflon)

- some good advice: eat healthy

- absurd wild claims e.g. "excess use of the fridge" "All of those risk can be extreme"


Most of these examples are fear-mongering without evidence.


We've heard that one before. Leaded petrol, tobacco, global warming..


> using a microwave with microscopic cracks in the glass and staying nearby

No, this is false. Microwave are non-ionizing radiation, and microscopic cracks in the glass won't do anything. Maybe large cracks in the metal mesh under the glass would allow a bit of micro waves to come off, which you might be able to feel as heat would be transferred, but since this is non-ionizing, it would be exactly the same thing as your hear heating up if you stay on a cell-phone for a long time. Just heat.


These are very strong claims. Any references?

(For example freezing can destroy cells and tissue, but how can it destroy molecules? Microwaves are non-ionizing so how can they give you cancer? Plus someone already mentioned that it's the metal mesh behind the glass - a Faraday cage - that keeps the microwaves inside.)


The biggest one is probably stress from worrying about all the things that you might be exposed to that might be carcinogenic.


yes, people think they are living healthy lifestyle for example if you eat fish thinking it's healthy but you may not know that fish has micro plastics inside it's flesh from the polluted ocean/seas that eventually goes inside human body.


Do you have any research papers linking microplastics in fish with certain cancers, and how/why is microplastic in fish is more harmful than... All other microplastic we i gest?


there is tons of reasearch about this, one of them is https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-81499-8


That paper doesn't address the question being asked: are microplastics in fish a particular cancer risk?


If you want to blame fish for ill health, you could do more than citing microplastics. Fish (especially in the oceans) tend to accumulate heavy metals like mercury. The risks from that are far higher than a tiny amount of microplastics.


that too


We can added cosmetics/deodorants/etc and cleaning products to the list, fire retardants, micro plastics, radio waves (perhaps?), and the list goes on. Every one of them is a potential hazard.

Where it gets even worse is that these potentially carcinogenic toxics are hardly tested individually for their long-term effects, let alone in combinations. And unfortunately, the few biotoxicology studies that have been done show that mixes are dangerous at concentrations 1 to 2 orders of magnitudes lower than the different items taken individually..


That was a reasonably good summary. In general suspect anything that is foreign in nature( eg. plastics) to be harmful. The bar to deem them safe must be really high. Of course everything natural need not be safe either ( example green potatoes)

One important thing to add: Vegetables are not the super food that they are made out to be, and red meat isn't a carcinogen, It's the opposite. Good quality red meat is one of the superfoods and vegetables must be carefully chosen/cooked to negate their bad effect.


There is absolutely zero correlation between microwave radiation at 2.45GHz and cancer. The photon energy levels are multiple order of magnitude lower than the energy levels required to disrupt DNA links or any other chemical bond.


> Genetically engineered food that is flooded in pesticides

Nhaa, I don't think so. Glyphosate residue are not a real concern for me.

Other things that are way higher on my list, that are considered "natural":

Sun exposure

Radeon gas

Alcohol and tobacco consumption


Do you have peer-reviewed citations to back these points up?


Microwaves are non-ionising radiation


While I personally have doubts about this microwave "cracked glass" concept being implicated in cancer--if anything I'd be more concerned about the effects of eating stuff that came out of the microwave for various reasons--we know that "non-ionizing radiation" is not the same thing as "can't cause cancer": it only means it can't directly damage DNA, but has been shown to be able to re-fold DNA or indirectly lead to oxidative stress via localized vibration and heat.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21716201/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2304485/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27903411/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33539186/


What? You think food retains harmful radiation after it comes out of the microwave?




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