End-all, be-all, strongest clear-coat?

[bwanasonic]

In studies, it was proven that food that was cooked in a microwave oven, and their proteins morphed and mutated into harmful cancerous molecules.  Also, studies have shown, that when numerous tests were done, people who ate microwaved foods, were tested and had highly cancerous molecule proteins in their blood, compared to before they ate the microwaved meal.

Umm....

http://www.snopes.com/toxins/plastic.htm

Check your urban legends

Kerry M

[brett]

Hi.
First, on-topic: I use automotive epoxy and dry it under a halogen light.  250W halogens from China only cost about $15 these days.  I also have a non-contact thermometer that allows me to adjust the light-to-box distance and ensure that the surface temperature is about 80C (about 170F).

re:

Actually if you type in online and search for dangers of microwave ovens, you will see that micorwaves are really bad for you.  In many foods it turns the food into cancerous things.  Also heating a plastic or those plastic foam containers from resteraunts are bad for you, especially in a microwave, it releases the bad chemicals in the plastic into your food and into your body once you eat it.

There IS some basis to this story, but it is, essentially, false.  In the early days of microwaves, microwave cooking containers were hard to get and expensive.  So some people used stuff like PVC stormwater pipes.  Just cut a 1 inch length of 4 inch pipe and you've got an excellent egg ring, right?  Wrong!  PVC pipe is completely different to food-safe plastic.  It has way too much free vinyl chloride, for one thing.  Also, small amounts of the lubricants used in its extrusion (think car grease) remain in the PVC. 

Hence, 20 years ago there were health warnings about not using some plastics in microwaves.  The real message seems to have got lost/twisted/wrong. 

The story about cis- and trans- chemicals is a long and detailed one.  Best to consult authoritative studies on that one (eg out of universities, not off the web).  Studies of the reliability of web content show that you should be very careful in checking the credentials of authors on the web.

So - enjoy that next chinese dinner.

Dr Brett Robinson