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by TheRealPomax 987 days ago
"Microwaves are supposed to be perfectly shielded" is one of those myths that just won't die. Microwaves are allowed to leak a lot, with exactly "how much" dependent on whatever agency writes the rules where you live of course =)

In the US, for instance, it's the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), part of the FDA, that sets the rules for microwaves, with the performance standard set forth by CDRH allowing leakage (measured at five centimeters from the oven surface) of 1 mW/cm² at the time of manufacture, and a maximum level of 5 mW/cm² during the lifetime of the oven.[1]

A strong wifi router or bluetooth transmitter may be transmitting at one or two orders of magnitude greater than the microwave's allowed to leak, but if you're closer to the microwave than the wifi/bluetooth transmitter, or the microwave is simply between you and the wifi/blueooth transmitter, or especially if you have a low power transmitter, that microwave's going to wreak havoc.

[1] https://transition.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Do...