Communication of health risks from exposure to depleted uranium (DU) in Italy: a case study

Abstract

The potential effects of depleted uranium (DU) on the health of military personnel, civilians and on the environment have been the focus of considerable debate in the last two decades. In Italy, the issue came to the attention of the public when some soldiers developed cancer after participating in peace missions in the Balkans in the second half of the nineties. In this case study, we draw on theoretical perspectives on risk and crisis communication to examine how communication strategies on DU risk lead to the creation of a ‘DU case’ in Italy, through the amplification of public perception of risk. In-depth interviews were conducted with experts, policy-makers, journalists and members of associations of soldiers and families of victims (n = 30) and were qualitatively analysed. The findings indicate the presence of three temporal phases through which the ‘DU case’ unfolded, characterized by different forms of communication, which influenced risk responses by amplification effects. A chain of communication errors could be identified, which explains the ineffectiveness of the initial responses of public authorities to the risk event, leading to a crisis that persisted for some years. The media played a central role in communication in all phases of the crisis. The findings have several implications for the improvement of the public responses to this type of risk.