Controversies around electromagnetic fields and electromagnetic hypersensitivity. The construction of "low noise" public problems

Abstract

For two decades, health effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) and electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) have become increasingly controversial topics in France. They constitute "low noise" public problems, whose construction seems impossible to complete : they can neither be eliminated from the political agenda nor durably included. This article analyses the political process leading to this situation using qualitative data. In line with previous studies of the dispute surrounding mobile phone base stations, it shows how the controversy around EMF health effects emerged from an urban planning problem subsequently converted into a public health issue. This conversion gave rise to a spin-off controversy surrounding EHS, which quickly grew to become a controversy of its own. The study of these controversies reveals how the democracy crisis affecting public risk management increases the risk of false health alarms. It also explains why EHSfails to get as medically recognized as other functional somatic syndromes, like fibromyalgia. Medically unexplained symptoms thus appear likely to contribute significantly to health controversies.