Case 6: Microwave ovens

After completing your undergraduate engineering degree, you are hired by Kitchen Appliances, Inc. (KAI), a company that manufactures microwave ovens and other time-saving kitchen appliances. Your first task is to test a series of microwave ovens to determine their defrosting capabilities. In your lab, you find a few dozen microwave ovens in their boxes. Every brand of microwave oven is there, including all of the competetors' brands.

You unpack all of the microwave ovens and begin your tests. As you wait for test items to defrost, you begin to dig through the cabinets in your lab. You discover that the lab was previously used to test microwave oven doors for radiation permeability (the amount of radiation that escapes through the glass door of the ovens). You find a piece of hand-held equipment that apparently was used to measure radiation levels. You can't resist trying it out.

You switch on the meter and point it around the room. You notice that when you point it at some of the microwave ovens, it give a very high reading. You turn off all the other ovens and discover that the reading is not a fluke. The ovens you are standing in front of are emitting much higher than average levels of radiation. You discover that one of the ovens is from KAI and the other is from a competitor. These microwave ovens are currently the best-selling ovens on the market, perhaps because they are the least expensive. It appears that these bargain ovens may not be as safe as they seem.

You decide to look around a little more. You find the test report that discusses the radiation emissions from all of KAI's models of microwave ovens. You learn that only the top of the line and the mid-level models were tested. The results from the bargain ovens apparently were extrapolated from the test results on the other ovens. What should you do?