Radiophobia
obsessive fear of ionizing radiation
Radiophobia, a portmanteau of “radiation” and “phobia”, refers to fear of ionizing radiation exceeding the actuarial risk, leading to overestimating the health risks of radiation compared to other risks. However, when comparing the fear of radiation that is commonly encountered with the clinical criteria (e.g. in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), it is clear that radiophobia fundamentally is a misnomer. Lindberg & Archer (2022) defines "radiophobia" as “the socio-psychological and cultural relationship between individuals and ionising radiation, characterised by a clear disparity between the actual and perceived risks and health effects of radiation exposure”.
Early use
The term was used in a paper entitled "Radio-phobia and radio-mania" presented by Dr Albert Soiland of Los Angeles in 1903. In the 1920s, the term was used to describe people who were afraid of radio broadcasting and receiving technology. In 1931, radiophobia was referred to in The Salt Lake Tribune as a "fear of loudspeakers", an affliction that Joan Crawford was reported as suffering. The term "radiophobia" was also printed in Australian newspapers in the 1930s and 1940s, assuming a similar meaning. The 1949 poem by Margarent Mercia Baker entitled "Radiophobia" laments the intrusion of advertising into radio broadcasts. The term remained in use with its original association with radios and radio broadcasting during the 1940s and 1950s.
“Radiophobia” enters the record as obsessive fear of ionizing radiation. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Radiophobia, obsessive and fear can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Radiophobia” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Radiophobia, obsessive and fear provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1781491. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2022, 1903, 1931 and 1949.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Radiophobia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.