Know those cool and trendy looking induction hobs? (This is a Miele by the way, taken from their site.) Well, not only are they seriously expensive (a Miele 930mm hob could cost you nearly £2,000…) but according to some new research reported by PowerWatch, they are delivering alarmingly high levels of electromagnetic radiation to anyone standing within 30cm/1 foot of them.
According to Powerwatch, induction hobs work by generating high levels of electromagnetic frequencies which ‘induce currents to flow in the metal pans which cause them to heat up. The top of the cooker stays relatively cool (hence the safety claims for induction hobs) and is mostly heated by contact with the pan’.
The new research, carried out by the Swiss Foundation for Research on Information Technologies in Society, measured the radiation levels of 16 cooktops. They found that 13 of them complied with the limits set by the ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) in 1998 which are already considered by many to be set far too high. However, they only complied providing that you were standing a foot away from the cookery – effectively at arm’s length. If you were standing any closer, they exceeded the limits.
They also pointed out that, due to the softness of their skulls, the brain tissue of young children (and therefore, presumably, a child in the womb) ‘can be over-exposed by 6 dB or a factor of 2.’
For a ‘ worst-case cooktop compliant with the measurement standards, assuming your body is never closer than 1 foot to the appliance,’ they go on, ‘the current density exceeds the 1998 ICNIRP basic restrictions by up to a factor of 16-fold.’
Anyone fancy a nice gas cooker?…. Although even then you are not entirely safe unless, as Dr Sarah Myhill has pointed out, you make sure that your cooker is well ventilated so that you are not subjecting yourself to gas fumes. They may no longer be toxic enough to kill you, but if they hang around your kitchen, they do not improve your health.
Oh crikey we just got one! A Lamona… Better not invite you for dinner!!!
Oh rats – and I was looking forward to that invite……… I am sure it will work brilliantly for you!
Do they come with extra long utensils so that you can stay at least one foot from the hob?
Michelle, the oven and slow cooker would still work a charm so you would still be safe… I think. Changing lights to LED. Are they better for electro smog or worse? We’re changing for purely cost/usage reasons.
Whew! Thank goodness for that! I can keep looking forward to the invite!!! And absolutely yes to LED bulbs – we like those VERY much!! Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) emit lots of light but no electromagnetic radiation and now that they have worked on the colour spectrum (originally they were rather blue and made you look as though you had a terminal illness) they give out more or less the same light as the old incandescent bulbs – but they last for 5 years – or is it 50 – or maybe even 500…… – and use very little energy. Definitely a GOOD thing!
Phew! so we don’t have to eat by candlelight either! I love the idea of extra long utensils too though it could get messy… You can’t beat gas but can’t get it where we live unfortunately, unless we got canisters delivered…
PS. They last a very long time apparently, though one has just gone wrong! They have the date written on them so you can take them back for a refund!
I want some foot-long utensils! I can see it now, lol. Luckily, I can’t afford one of those cookers but I was drooling over a new gas hob range cooker the other day with two ovens and two eye-level grills (much more practical). Sometimes I have to make 4 different meals when the boys and girlfriends are here. I am truly gluten free, P is 25 years’ veggie, boys don’t think it’s a real meal if they can’t see meat and girlfriends have various likes and dislikes. I thought it was meant to get easier when they grew up!
Must admit that the aquisition of a 5 ringed hob pre the last set of FFFood Awards judging (the cooks threatened a walk out unless they got a new hob) has somewhat revolutionised things in the FoodsMatter kitchen. (The previous one was second hand prior to being used in our catering kitchen for ten years and only had three rings that, sort of, worked….)
Four different meals on the trot? The kind of multi-tasking that food allergics have got down to a fine art!!