News Microbes

More than 100 bacteria species can flourish in microwave ovens

The microbes turned up in swabs of 30 microwave ovens in different settings

a photo of a microwave oven against an orange backdrop

Microwave ovens can harbor thriving bacterial communities that have somehow adapted to the harsh environment, a new study reports.

GK Hart/Vicky Hart/Stone/Getty Images Plus

By Abdullahi Tsanni

Even the microwave oven in your kitchen is not immune to bacteria.

The irradiating environment within a microwave oven might seem inhospitable to microbes. But swabs from microwave ovens in several different locales identified over 100 bacterial strains, researchers report August 7 in Frontiers in Microbiology.