ABSTRACT
Why has the concept of risk communication suddenly become a widely discussed framework for public policy in the environmental and health areas? Prior to 1986 there were only a few essays in the scholarly and policy literature with "risk communication" in their titles. Since that year, however, scores of titles with the term have appeared 1 along with conferences, special sessions in scientific meetings, agency-sponsored workshops, and grants. From one perspective this is not so unusual. New problems often capture the attention of researchers and become the centerpiece of academic and policy research for a period of time. Scientific subfields both from within and across disciplines are constantly emerging. Risk communication might be just another fashionable rubric for the activity of a specialized group of researchers. If that were the case, then its birth as an area of study would be of interest primarily to historians and sociologists of science.
