Is it true that low price microwave ovens can be dangerous?

Question

I wanted to buy a low price microwave oven today but the shop keeper recommended a big brand microwave and said that low price microwaves might be dangerous for health as the waves might scape from the oven and hit the body, specially for pregnant women they are very dangerous.

is this true?

Answer 1

Sounds like a scam. They are all probably made on the same assembly line in China.

Answer 2

In out highschool science class one day we tested the amount of radiation escaping from microwaves.  We tested 5 different models, all of varying cost.  

We found that all models emitted a moderate amount of microwave radiation through the door (they hovered around 12x the amount found naturally around us).  The cheapest microwave (some little simple one from Wal-mart) DID emit the most radiation, but not by much.  As for the next few, ranging from some other little cheap one up to one that retails at about $1000, the amount of microwaves emitted was about the same.  

In other words, we found that the microwave radiation emitted through the door do not necessarily decrease as price increased.  However, this is only one aspect of microwave safety.  For example, this measurement would be useful if your concerned about putting your face up to the window and watching your Hot Pocket cook ;)

Good luck!