Union gets radiation detectors

Press, 21 August 1979, Page 1

Union gets radiation detectors

Canterbury Hotel Workers’ Union organisers have been issued with detectors to check for leakage of radiation from microwave ovens used in hotels, restaurants and take-away bars. The acting secretary of the union (Mr G. D. Harding) said yesterday that if the detectors discovered any radiation the oven would be turned off and the worker would not use it until it was repaired and made safe. Other unions in the Hotel Workers’ Federation have

been issued with identical detectors. Mr Harding said that the union’s detectors had limited capability and would pick up only significant radiation leakages. “The union would like to see employers take the initiative and have their ovens tested every six months by the National Radiation' Laboratory, which has more sophisticated testing equipment,” he said. Reports from overseas quoted by the union have linked excessive microwave

radiation exposure to health problems, including sterility in women, blindness and cataracts. “The ovens are good, but only as good as the seals allow them to be,” Mr Harding said. The director of the National Radiation Laboratory (Mr H. Atkinson) said that regulations governing the use of the ovens in New Zealand had been prepared by the laboratory and were now in the hands of the legislators. Until the regulations were gazetted the labora-

tory would be guided by British standards of safety, “We have checked examples of every model imported and have not detected faults in any of the prototypes,” The regulations being prepared would take into account the radiation levels not only of new ovens, but what they were likely to be like after five years. “Provided there is no dirty use, of the doors or buckling, it would not be feasible to get leakage outside the ovens,” he said. The ovens, mainly of

Japanese make, sell in New Zealand for about $l2OO to more than $2OOO for a large model. They are run by electricity to produce electro-magnetic radiation, which is intermediate between radio waves and infra-red radiation. They have been on the New Zealand market about five years, and are used widely in commercial catering because of their ability to cook food quickly. One agent said yesterday their main advantage was in reheating cooked food.