Electromagnetic-Exposure Prevention and Mitigation Literacy Among Pre-Service Science Teachers: Behavioral Adaptation, Responsibility Attribution, and Governance Gaps

The expansion of wireless infrastructure has made anthropogenic non-ionizing electromagnetic fields (EMFs)—commonly described in public discourse as “electrosmog” or electromagnetic pollution—a pervasive feature of digitalized environments. This study examines how 81 pre-service science teachers in Türkiye conceptualized EMF-related sources, perceived risks, mitigation measures, and responsibility. A multi-source qualitative design combined inductive content analysis of nine open-ended questionnaire items with a document-informed deductive mapping based on authoritative EMF-exposure and risk-governance documents. The integrated framework distinguished diagnostic and risk-appraisal capacity, receiver–pathway–source intervention levels, governance and collective capacity, and responsibility attribution. Within a questionnaire primarily oriented toward awareness and daily-life action, responses concentrated strongly on receiver-level behavioral adaptation and attributed responsibility mainly to individuals and households. Source-level controls, monitoring, compliance, institutional responsibility, and evidence-based risk communication were not spontaneously articulated. Because these dimensions were not directly prompted, the findings do not establish a governance-literacy deficit; they define the boundaries of the mitigation repertoire elicited and generate a hypothesis for future research using explicit institutional and governance-oriented prompts. The study’s contribution lies in applying an integrated exposure-management and responsibility-attribution framework to an understudied teacher-education population and identifying curriculum needs concerning evidence appraisal, multilevel responsibility, and uncertainty-sensitive risk communication.