2013: Department of Health, Victoria (Australia); search for "Wind farms
sound and health".
2012: Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
Independent Expert Science Panel Releases Report on Potential Health Effects
of Wind Turbines
http://www.mass.gov/dep/public/press/0112wind.htm
Fiumicelli D. Windfarm noise dose-response: a literature review.
Acoustics Bulletin 2011; Nov/Dec:26-34 [copies available from S Chapman
2010: Knopper LD, Ollsen CA. Health effects and wind turbines: a review
of the literature. Environmental Health 2010; 10:78
http://www.ehjournal.net/content/10/1/78
2010: UK Health Protection Agency.
Environmental noise and health in the UK.
A report by the Ad Hoc Expert Group on Noise and Health.
(this report is about all environmental noise)
http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1279888026747
"There is no reason to believe, based on the levels and frequencies of
the sounds and... sound exposures in occupational settings, that the sounds
from wind turbines could plausibly have direct adverse health consequences."
Source: Colby 2009 review
http://199.88.77.35/EFiles/docs/CD/PlanCom/10_0426_IT_100416160206.pdf
"... while some people living near wind turbines report symptoms such as
dizziness, headaches, and sleep disturbance, the scientific evidence
available to date does not demonstrate a direct causal link between wind
turbine noise and adverse health effects.
The sound level from wind turbines at common residential setbacks is not
sufficient to cause hearing impairment or other direct health effects..."
Source: Ontario CMOH Report
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/publications/ministry_reports/wind_turbine/wind_turbine.pdf
"To date, no peer reviewed scientific journal articles demonstrate a
causal link between people living in proximity to modern wind turbines, the
noise (audible, low frequency noise, or infrasound) they emit and resulting
physiological health effects." Source: Knopper and Ollson review
http://www.ehjournal.net/content/pdf/1476-069X-10-78.pdf
"None of the ... evidence reviewed suggests an association between noise
from wind turbines and pain and stiffness, diabetes, high blood pressure,
tinnitus, hearing impairment, cardiovascular disease, and headache/migraine."
Source: Massachusetts review
http://www.mass.gov/dep/energy/wind/turbine_impact_study.pdf
"What is apparent is that numerous websites have been constructed by
individuals or groups to support or oppose the development of wind turbine
projects, or media sites reporting on the debate.
Often these websites state the perceived impacts on, or benefits to, human
health to support the position of the individual or group hosting the website.
The majority of information posted on these websites cannot be traced back to
a scientific, peer-reviewed source and is typically anecdotal in nature.
In some cases, the information contained on and propagated by internet
websites and the media is not supported, or is even refuted, by scientific
research.
This serves to spread misconceptions about the potential impacts of wind
energy on human health..." Source: Knopper and Ollson review
http://www.ehjournal.net/content/pdf/1476-069X-10-78.pdf
"The perception of noise depends in part on the individual – on a
person's hearing acuity and upon his or her subjective tolerance for or
dislike of a particular type of noise.
For example, a persistent "whoosh" might be a soothing sound to some people
even as it annoys others." Source: NRC 2007
http://www.vawind.org/assets/nrc/nrc_wind_report_050307.pdf
"... being annoyed can lead to increasing feelings of powerlessness and
frustration, which is widely believed to be at least potentially associated
with adverse health effects over the longer term." Source: Ad Hoc Expert
Group on Noise and Health
http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1279888026747
"Wind turbine annoyance has been statistically associated with wind
turbine noise, but found to be more strongly related to visual impact,
attitude to wind turbines and sensitivity to noise." Source: Knopper and Ollson
review
http://www.ehjournal.net/content/pdf/1476-069X-10-78.pdf
"... self reported health effects like feeling tense, stressed, and
irritable, were associated with noise annoyance and not to noise itself ..."
Source: Knopper and Ollson review
http://www.ehjournal.net/content/pdf/1476-069X-10-78.pdf
"... many of the self reported health effects are associated with
numerous issues, many of which can be attributed to anxiety and annoyance."
Source: Knopper and Ollson review
http://www.ehjournal.net/content/pdf/1476-069X-10-78.pdf
"To date, no peer reviewed articles demonstrate a direct causal link
between people living in proximity to modern wind turbines, the noise they
emit and resulting physiological health effects.
If anything, reported health effects are likely attributed to a number of
environmental stressors that result in an annoyed/stressed state in a segment
of the population." Source: Knopper and Ollson review
http://www.ehjournal.net/content/pdf/1476-069X-10-78.pdf
"... some community studies are biased towards over-reporting of symptoms
because of anexplicit link between ... noise and symptoms in the questions
inviting people to remember and report more symptoms because of concern about
noise." Source: Ad Hoc Expert Group on Noise and Health
http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1279888026747
"... it is probable that some persons will inevitably exhibit negative
responses to turbine noise wherever and whenever it is audible, no matter
what the noise level." Source: Fiumicelli review Fiumicelli article
abstract
"Respondents tended to report more annoyance when they also noted a
negative effect on landscape, and ability to see the turbines was strongly
related to the probability of annoyance." Source: Minnesota Health Dept 2009
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/hazardous/topics/windturbines.pdf
"[It is proposed that annoyance is not a direct health effect but an
indication that a person's capacity to cope is under threat.
The person has to resolve the threat or their coping capacity is undermined,
leading to stress related health effects...
Some people are very annoyed at quite low levels of noise, whilst other are
not annoyed by high levels." Source: NHMRC 2010
http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/new0048_evidence_review_wind_turbines_and_health.pdf
"Further, sounds, such as repetitive but low intensity noise, can evoke
different responses from individuals...
Some people can dismiss and ignore the signal, while for others, the signal
will grow and become more apparent and unpleasant over time...
These reactions may have little relationship to will or intent, and more to
do with previous exposure history and personality."
Source: Minnesota Health Dept 2009
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/hazardous/topics/windturbines.pdf
"Stress and annoyance from noise often do not correlate with loudness.
This may suggest [that other factors impact an individual's reaction to
noise ... individuals with an interest in a project and individuals who have
some control over an environmental noise are less likely to find a noise
annoying or stressful." Source: Minnesota Health Dept 2009
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/hazardous/topics/windturbines.pdf
"Noise produced by wind turbines generally is not a major concern for
humans beyond a half mile or so because various measures to reduce noise have
been implemented in the design of modern turbines." Source: NRC 2007
http://www.vawind.org/assets/nrc/nrc_wind_report_050307.pdf
"Noise... levels from an onshore wind project are typically in the 35-45
dB(A) range at a distance of about 300 meters ...
These are relatively low noise or sound-pressure levels compared with other
common sources such as a busy office (~60 dB(A)), and with nighttime ambient
noise levels in the countryside ( ~20-40 dB(A))." Source: NRC 2007
http://www.vawind.org/assets/nrc/nrc_wind_report_050307.pdf
"Complaints about low frequency noise come from a small number of people
but the degree of distress can be quite high.
There is no firm evidence that exposure to this type of sound causes damage
to health, in the physical sense, but some people are certainly very
sensitive to it." Source: Ad Hoc Expert Group on Noise and Health
http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1279888026747
"... there is the theoretical possibility that annoyance may lead to
stress responses and then to illness.
If there is no annoyance then there can be no mechanism for any increase in
stress hormones by this pathway ... if stress-related adverse health effects
are mediated solely through annoyance then any mitigation plan which reduces
annoyance would be equally effective in reducing any consequent adverse
health effects.
It would make no difference whether annoyance reduction was achieved through
actual reductions in sound levels, or by changes in attitude brought about
by some other means." Source: Ad Hoc Expert Group on Noise and Health
http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1279888026747
"Claims that infrasound from wind turbines directly impacts the vestibular system have not been demonstrated scientifically... evidence shows that the infrasound levels near wind turbines cannot impact the vestibular system." http://www.mass.gov/dep/public/press/0112wind.htm
"There is no evidence that infrasound ... [from wind turbines ...
contributes to perceived annoyance or other health effects." Source: Bolin
et al 2011 Review
http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/6/3/035103/pdf/1748-9326_6_3_035103.pdf
"... self reported health effects of people living near wind turbines
are more likely attributed to physical manifestation from an annoyed state
than from infrasound." Source: Knopper and Ollson review
http://www.ehjournal.net/content/pdf/1476-069X-10-78.pdf
"... infrasound from current generation upwind model turbines [is well
below the pressure sound levels at which known health effects occur.
Further, there is no scientific evidence to date that vibration from low
frequency wind turbine noise causes adverse health effects."
Source: Ontario CMOH Report
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/publications/ministry_reports/wind_turbine/wind_turbine.pdf
"It would appear... that infrasound alone is hardly responsible for the
complaints... from people living up to two km from the large downwind
turbines." Source: Jakobsen 2005 review
http://multi-science.metapress.com/content/w6r4226247q6p416/
"From a critical survey of all known published measurement results of
infrasoundfrom wind turbines it is found that wind turbines of contemporary
design with the rotor placed upwind produce very low levels of infrasound.
Even quite close to these turbines the infrasound level is far below relevant
assessment criteria, including thelimit of perception."
Source: Jakobsen 2005 review
http://multi-science.metapress.com/content/w6r4226247q6p416/
"With older downwind turbines, some infrasound also is emitted each time
a rotor blade interacts with the disturbed wind behind the tower, but it is
believed that the energy at these low frequencies is insufficient to pose a
health hazard." Source: NRC 2007
http://www.vawind.org/assets/nrc/nrc_wind_report_050307.pdf
"Scientific evidence suggests that shadow flicker [from the rotating
blades of wind turbines does not pose a risk for eliciting seizures as a
result of photic stimulation." Source: Massachusetts review
http://www.mass.gov/dep/energy/wind/turbine_impact_study.pdf
"Flicker frequency due to a turbine is on the order of the rotor
frequency (i.e., 0.6-1.0 Hz), which is harmless to humans.
According to the Epilepsy Foundation, only frequencies above 10 Hz are likely
to cause epileptic seizures." Source: NRC 2007
http://www.vawind.org/assets/nrc/nrc_wind_report_050307.pdf
"Effective public participation in and direct benefits from wind energy
projects (such as receiving electricity from the neighboring wind turbines)
have been shown to result in less annoyance in general and better public
acceptance overall."
Source: Massachusetts review
http://www.mass.gov/dep/energy/wind/turbine_impact_study.pdf
"The environmental and human-health risk reduction benefits of
wind-powered electricity generation accrue through its displacement of
electricity generation using other energy sources (e.g., fossil fuels), thus
displacing the adverse effects of those other generators."
Source: NRC 2007
http://www.vawind.org/assets/nrc/nrc_wind_report_050307.pdf
"Community engagement at the outset of planning for wind turbines is
important and may alleviate health concerns about wind farms.
Concerns about fairness and equity may also influence attitudes towards wind
farms and allegations about effects on health.
These factors deserve greater attention in future developments."
Source: Ontario CMOH Report
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/publications/ministry_reports/wind_turbine/wind_turbine.pdf