CHILDHOOD BRAIN-TUMOR OCCURRENCE IN RELATION TO RESIDENTIAL POWER-LINE CONFIGURATIONS, ELECTRIC-HEATING SOURCES, AND ELECTRIC APPLIANCE USE

To assess the relation between childhood brain tumor occurrence and ex posure to potential sources of residential magnetic fields, a populati on-based case-control study of incident brain tumors was conducted in the Seattle, Washington, area at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research C enter from 1989 to 1994 among children younger than age 20 years who w ere diagnosed from 1984 to 1990, The specific aims were to evaluate wh ether proximity to high-current residential power lines, as defined by the Wertheimer-Leeper code, or use of electric appliances or electric heating sources by the mother while pregnant or by the child before d iagnosis were associated with increased risks of brain tumor occurrenc e, The mothers of 133 cases and 270 controls (recruited by random digi t dialing) participated, Risk of brain tumor occurrence did not increa se with increasing exposure, as indicated by the five-level Wertheimer -Leeper code, When exposure was dichotomized as high versus low, the o dds ratio was 0.9 (95% confidence interval 0.5-1.5) and did not vary s ignificantly by sex, age, or histology, No elevations in risk were fou nd for ever versus never use of electric blankets, water beds, or elec tric heating sources. Odds ratios were slightly elevated for nine appl iances and were at or below 1,0 for eight others, These data do not su pport the hypothesis that exposure to magnetic fields from high-curren t power lines, electric heating sources, or electric appliances is ass ociated with the subsequent occurrence of brain tumors in children.