All microwaves leak microwave energy. They haven't made one that doesn't. It's the seals that are weak. The older the microwave, the more worn out the seals, and the more they leak. They have standards for HOW MUCH new microwaves can leak, but not standards saying they can't leak. Obviously that doesn't apply to used microwaves.
Eating microwaved food has been shown to cause an increase in white blood cell count, as if the body is responding to an infection. That is not the same as increasing red blood cell count, which would imply greater health. That proves that microwave ovens alter the structure of food in a way that conventional cooking methods do not.
If you value your health, that should give you pause. I don't know of any particular disease that eating microwaved food causes, but more white blood cells is most disturbing.
By the way, just because "they" (the government?) allows microwave ovens to be sold doesn't mean that they are perfectly safe. The government exists to serve the business interests of the rich and powerful, first and foremost, and NOT to protect the greater population. Anyone who believes that the government would not allow an unsafe product to be sold needs to take the red pill and wake up.
The govt approved the dalkon shield, still allows alcohol and cigarettes to be sold, both of which are proven to be unsafe, and the govt even subsidizes tobacco still, to protect tobacco companies profits, since the politician's are in those company's pockets.
There are things that are sold that are acknowledged to be unsafe, but have warnings on them.
I didn't know much about microwaved ovens before, but I know a lot more now after reading this:
https://www.health-science.com/microwave_hazards.html
Microwaving food forms carcinogens.
This was interesting in particular:
"Carcinogens in microwaved food
In Dr. Lita Lee's book, Health Effects of Microwave Radiation - Microwave Ovens, and in the March and September 1991 issues of Earthletter, she stated that every microwave oven leaks electro-magnetic radiation, harms food, and converts substances cooked in it to dangerous organ-toxic and carcinogenic products. Further research summarized in this article reveal that microwave ovens are far more harmful than previously imagined.
The following is a summary of the Russian investigations published by the Atlantis Raising Educational Center in Portland, Oregon. Carcinogens were formed in virtually all foods tested. No test food was subjected to more microwaving than necessary to accomplish the purpose, i.e., cooking, thawing, or heating to insure sanitary ingestion.
Here's a summary of some of the results:
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Microwaving prepared meats sufficiently to insure sanitary ingestion caused formation of d-Nitrosodienthanolamines, a well-known carcinogen.
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Microwaving milk and cereal grains converted some of their amino acids into carcinogens.
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Thawing frozen fruits converted their glucoside and galactoside containing fractions into carcinogenic substances.
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Extremely short exposure of raw, cooked or frozen vegetables converted their plant alkaloids into carcinogens.
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Carcinogenic free radicals were formed in microwaved plants, especially root vegetables.
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Decrease in nutritional value"
The whole article was rather interesting.
As far as whether posting near a microwave oven is harmful, this part was rather interesting:
"Microwave sickness is discovered
The Russians did research on thousands of workers who had been exposed to microwaves during the development of radar in the 1950's. Their research showed health problems so serious that the Russians set strict limits of 10 microwatts exposure for workers and one microwatt for civilians.
In Robert O. Becker's book, The Body Electric, he described Russian research on the health effects of microwave radiation, which they called "microwave sickness." On page 314, Becker states:
"It's [Microwave sickness] first signs are low blood pressure and slow pulse. The later and most common manifestations are chronic excitation of the sympathetic nervous system [stress syndrome] and high blood pressure. This phase also often includes headache, dizziness, eye pain, sleeplessness, irritability, anxiety, stomach pain, nervous tension, inability to concentrate, hair loss, plus an increased incidence of appendicitis, cataracts, reproductive problems, and cancer. The chronic symptoms are eventually succeeded by crisis of adrenal exhaustion and ischemic heart disease [the blockage of coronary arteries and heart attacks]."