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Cancer & Tumors

Self-reported electrical appliance use and risk of adult brain tumors

No Effects Found

Authors not listed · 2005

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Large study finds household appliances generally don't increase brain tumor risk, though some concern remains for devices used near the head.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers studied 678 brain tumor patients and 686 healthy controls to examine whether common household appliances increase brain tumor risk. The study found little evidence linking most appliances to brain tumors, though hair dryer use showed a modest association with gliomas and electric shaver use was linked to meningiomas in men. The authors concluded that electromagnetic fields from household appliances are unlikely to significantly increase brain tumor risk.

Cite This Study
Unknown (2005). Self-reported electrical appliance use and risk of adult brain tumors.
Show BibTeX
@article{self_reported_electrical_appliance_use_and_risk_of_adult_brain_tumors_ce1479,
  author = {Unknown},
  title = {Self-reported electrical appliance use and risk of adult brain tumors},
  year = {2005},
  doi = {10.1093/AJE/KWI013},
  
}
DOI: 10.1093/AJE/KWI013PubMed: 15632263

Quick Questions About This Study

This study found hair dryer users had a 70% higher glioma risk, but the association didn't strengthen with more frequent use, suggesting the link may not be causal and could reflect recall bias.
The study found a strong association between electric shaver use and meningiomas in men, with risk increasing by usage duration, though this was based on very few unexposed cases.
No association was found between microwave oven use and any type of brain tumor in this study of 678 brain tumor patients and 686 healthy controls.
This large case-control study found no evidence that electric blanket use increases the risk of gliomas, meningiomas, or acoustic neuromas in adults.
According to this research, electrical appliances produce the highest residential extremely low frequency EMF exposures, with devices used near the head like hair dryers and shavers creating peak exposures.