Microwaves cook not only food but environment too: Study

Belgium, January 19: Take out the food from the refrigerator, Heat it in the microwave and ready to eat. But do you know that this microwave is very harmful to the environment Microwaves across the European Union cause an amount of carbon dioxide to be released into the environment equivalent to that generated by almost 7 million cars, according to a new study.

"Electricity consumption has the biggest impact," said lead author Alejandro Gallego-Schmid, a research associate at the University of Manchester. Researchers at the University of Manchester carried out the first ever comprehensive research into the environmental impacts of microwaves, considering their whole life cycle, from “cradle to grave”.

Cooking food in a microwave does not directly release carbon dioxide in the same way as a car's exhaust, but the study took into account the power the ovens use and the resources and pollution involved in every step from production to disposal.

They found that the machines are responsible for 7.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year in the EU, which is the same as the annual emissions of 6.8 million cars.

Waste is another major problem with low costs and ease of manufacture meaning more people are throwing away electronic equipment than ever before, including microwaves.