Microwaving food

Do the toxic particles contained in plastic wrap migrate into food being cooked in a microwave oven?

Eighteen year old student Claire Nelson examined this question for a high school project. She covered virgin olive oil with four types of plastic wrap and microwaved each combination.

Nelson found that suspected carcinogen di(ethylhexyl) adequate (or DEHA) seeped into the food, contaminating it at 200 to 500 parts per million (compared to the US standard of 0.05 parts per billion).

She also found that xenoestrogen migrated into the food. This is significant, because this chemical is responsible for low sperm counts and breast cancer.

(Associated Press, 3.4.00.)

EMRAA News June 2000, Vol 5 No 2