Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Microwave Heated Water: Deleterious To Houseplants?



Even though this curious assumption went viral once microwave ovens became a common household appliance, is microwave heated water deleterious to houseplants? 

By: Ringo Bones 

It is important to point out that water heated to a temperature of 70 to 100 degrees Celsius by whatever means – gas range electric oven, induction oven, microwave oven, etc. can kill any plant-life if poured at them at that temperature, this topic deals with the idea that water heated with a microwave oven to its boiling point can have a deleterious effect on houseplants after the microwave heated water is allowed to cool to ambient room temperature then used to water houseplants. Anyone with a working knowledge of homeopathy, the Peter W. Belt effect of polarized water in high fidelity audio and Rupert Sheldrake’s Morphic Resonance Theory will probably be very curious of the idea that microwave heated water having deleterious effects on houseplants whether or not their “preconceived science” behind their explanation of the phenomena seems suspect from the viewpoint of current mainstream science, they would, nonetheless, try this in a well-controlled experiment if their busy schedules will allow. 

Fortunately for those who might not have time to perform such a well-controlled science experiment first hand in order to find out if microwave heated water has a deleterious effect on household plants if used to water at them after it has cooled down to ambient room temperature, an episode of Mythbusters had performed such experiment and – inexplicably – the plants watered by microwave heated water has shown the most growth, Mythbusters’ Adam and Jamie were at a loss to explain their results and only suggested their fans to perform the same experiment to find out whether or not their results match theirs. Based on the Mythbusters’ experiment, Is microwave heated water be healthier for houseplants than either ordinary tap water and rainwater? 

Back in 2007, a Microwave heating system intended to be installed in the ballast tanks of bulk cargo ships and crude oil tankers to kill invasive organisms lurking in their ballast tank’s water that could have ecologically disastrous effects on the ships’ various ports-of-call became one of the years top inventions. Since the end of World War II, scientists have known that an average 250 ml. glass of tap water contains about 250-million bacteria and other microorganisms, could using microwaves to heat tap water then cooling it down to ambient room temperature to water it to houseplants be a healthier option to your houseplants because your microwave oven might have killed deleterious microorganisms present in tap water that could hinder the health and well being of your houseplants? 

To those with a “quirky phobia” with microwave radiation might beg to differ, their concerns over the deleterious effects of microwave radiation on living things does have “scientific credibility”. Even though the jury is still out on the link between deleterious health effects on urban dwellers on our current ambient microwave radiation exposure standards, everyone in the United States got neurotic on this very issue during the late 1980s and early 1990s when they found out that the then Soviet Union – once the socialist states’ occupational microwave radiation exposure standards became accessible by the West – has a more stringent microwave exposure guidelines in comparison to late 1980s era United States' OSHA microwave radiation exposure guidelines.