The stopping power of electrons in methane based tissue equivalent materials is reported in this study for incident energies from 10 to 10 000 eV. These results have been obtained from the calculated integral inelastic cross-sections in combination with an average excitation energy derived from the experimental energy loss spectra. The reliability of the present calculated cross-section data has been checked by comparison with the electron scattering total cross-sections measured in a transmission beam experiment. Some discrepancies, on the order of 25%, with the calculated stopping powers available in the literature are discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.