Wind turbine syndrome

Wind turbine syndrome
Alternative medicine
Risks Nocebo

Wind turbine syndrome or wind farm syndrome is a psychosomatic disorder primarily caused by anxiety generated by heightened awareness of turbines[1] – the "nocebo effect"[2] – prompted by proponents of the idea that wind turbines have adverse health effects. While proponents claim that a number of effects including death, cancer and congenital abnormality have been caused by wind farms, the distribution of recorded events correlates with media coverage of wind farm syndrome itself, and not with the presence or absence of wind farms.[3] It is not recognised by any international disease classification system and does not appear in any title or abstract in the US National Library of Medicine's PubMed database.[4] The Center for Media and Democracy's SourceWatch website has identified at least one Australian fossil fuel industry funded astroturfing group[5] as involved in promoting the idea of wind turbine syndrome. An investigation led to the foundation being stripped of its status as a health promotion charity.[6]

Noise effects

There is some evidence of localised low-level adverse psychological effects due to low-frequency noise from wind turbines, but this effect is poorly understood.[7] Nonetheless, a 2009 expert panel review concluded that wind turbines do not directly make people ill.[8][9] The study did allow that some people could experience stress or irritation caused by the swishing sounds wind turbines produce. "A small minority of those exposed report annoyance and stress associated with noise perception..." [however] "Annoyance is not a disease." The study group pointed out that similar irritations are produced by local and highway vehicles, as well as from industrial operations and aircraft.[8] The 2009 study panel members included Robert Dobie, a doctor and clinical professor at the University of Texas, Geoff Leventhall, a noise vibration and acoustics expert in the United Kingdom, Bo Sondergaard, with Danish Electronics Light and Acoustics, Michael Seilo, a professor of audiology at Western Washington University, and Robert McCunney, a biological engineering scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. McCunney contested statements that infrasounds from wind turbines could create vibrations causing ill health: "It doesn't really have much credence, at least based on the literature out there".[8]

In a 2009 report about "Rural Wind Farms", a Standing Committee of the Parliament of New South Wales, Australia, recommended a minimum setback of two kilometres between wind turbines and neighbouring houses (which can be waived by the affected neighbour) as a precautionary approach.[10] In July 2010, Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council reported that "there is no published scientific evidence to support adverse effects of wind turbines on health".[11]

Safety reviews

A 2011 literature review stated that wind turbines can be associated with some health effects, such as sleep disturbance, and argued that the health effects reported by those living near wind turbines were probably caused not by the turbines themselves but rather by "physical manifestation from an annoyed state."[12]

Eighteen research reviews about wind turbines and health, published since 2003, all concluded that there was very little evidence that wind turbines were harmful in any direct way.[13][14]

A meta study published in 2014 concluded:[15]

In Ontario, Canada, the Ministry of the Environment created noise guidelines to limit wind turbine noise levels 30 metres away from a dwelling or campsite to 40 dB(A).[16] These regulations also set a minimum distance of 550 metres (1,800 ft) for a group of up to five relatively quiet [102 dB(A)] turbines within a 3-kilometre (1.9 mi) radius, rising to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) for a group of 11 to 25 noisier (106-107 dB(A)) turbines. Larger facilities and noisier turbines would require a noise study.[8][17]

Modern wind turbines produce significantly less noise than older designs. Turbine designers work to minimise noise, as noise reflects lost energy and output. Noise levels at nearby residences may be managed through the siting of turbines, the approvals process for wind farms, and operational management of the wind farm.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "The "science" of wind turbine syndrome". Popular Science. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  2. ↑ Crighton, F. et. al. (November 2014). "The Link between Health Complaints and Wind Turbines: Support for the Nocebo Expectations Hypothesis". Frontiers in Public Health. 2 (220). doi:10.3389/fpubh.2014.00220. PMC 4227478Freely accessible. PMID 25426482.
  3. ↑ Interview with Simon Chapman (academic), Australian Broadcasting Corporation, October 20, 2012
  4. ↑ Simon Chapman (December 21, 2011). "Much angst over wind turbines is just hot air". Sydney Morning Herald.
  5. ↑ "Waubra Foundation". SourceWatch. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Waubra Foundation, prominent anti-wind farm lobby, stripped of health promotion charity status". ABC News. December 19, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  7. ↑ Committee on Environmental Impacts of Wind Energy Projects, National Research Council (2007). Environmental Impacts of Wind-Energy Projects, p. 158-9.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Hamilton, Tyler (15 December 2009). "Wind Gets Clean Bill of Health". Toronto Star. Toronto. pp. B1–B2. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  9. ↑ W. David Colby, Robert Dobie, Geoff Leventhall, David M. Lipscomb, Robert J. McCunney, Michael T. Seilo, Bo Søndergaard. "Wind Turbine Sound and Health Effects: An Expert Panel Review", Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA), December 2009.
  10. ↑ General Purpose Standing Committee No. 5, Parliament of New South Wales (16 December 2009). "Final Report, Rural Wind Farms".
  11. ↑ National Health and Medical Research Council (July 2010). Wind Turbines and Health public statement.
  12. ↑ Knopper, Loren D; Ollson, Christopher A (2011). "Health effects and wind turbines: A review of the literature". Environmental Health. 10 (1): 78. doi:10.1186/1476-069X-10-78.
  13. ↑ Alison Rourke (15 March 2013). "Windfarm sickness spreads by word of mouth, Australian study finds". The Guardian.
  14. ↑ Professor Simon Chapman. "Summary of main conclusions reached in 25 reviews of the research literature on wind farms and health" Sydney University School of Public Health, April 2015
  15. ↑ McCunney, Robert J. MD, MPH; Mundt, Kenneth A. PhD; Colby, W. David MD; Dobie, Robert MD; Kaliski, Kenneth BE, PE; Blais, Mark PsyD. Wind Turbines and Health: A Critical Review of the Scientific Literature Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, November 2014 - Volume 56 - Issue 11 - p e108–e130 . doi:10.1097/JOM.0000000000000313
  16. ↑ Ministry of the Environment, Ontario (October 2008) "Noise Guidelines for Wind Farms"
  17. ↑ Ministry of the Environment, Ontario (9 June 2009). "Wind Turbines – Proposed Requirements and Setbacks"
  18. ↑ New South Wales Government (1 November 2010). The wind energy fact sheet Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, p. 8.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.