Significant excess cancer mortality among housewives com- pared to women employed outside the home in the Eugene, Oregon metro- politan area coilld not he confirmed in the Salem, Oregon metropolitan area. The household-associated excess cancer risk in the Eugene metro- politan area is most likely a local environmental phenomenon and not a general occupational risk for housewives as initially suspected. A hy- pothesis is proposed for magnetic field' exposure from household electric heating loops in a community with cheap electric power.