New Report Details Human Health Risks From Wind Turbines’ Noise
Wind turbines have created serious human health and economic problems in Europe
After the release of a devastating report, Het Windmolendrama (The Windmill Tragedy) about this in the Netherlands by the Clintel organization, the coalition party, the BBB, has called for a moratorium on the construction of new windmill projects pending further study.
This report by Clintel discusses the political, scientific, economic, and legal issues surrounding land-based wind turbines in The Netherlands.
These health effects to humans of the low-frequency noise generated by wind turbines have been largely ignored by the Dutch government.
The incessant grinding sounds that wind turbines make have been known to cause tinnitus [ringing in the ears], vertigo, panic attacks, migraine headaches, sleep deprivation according to research published by Dr. Nina Pierpont.
Her findings led her to confirm what she has identified as a new health risk: Wind Turbine Syndrome.
Wind Turbine Syndrome is the disruption or abnormal stimulation of the inner ear’s vestibular system caused by turbine infrasound [low-frequency noise].
A group of symptoms that she calls Visceral Vibratory Vestibular Disturbance, or VVVD, includes internal pulsation, quivering, nervousness, fear, a compulsion to flee, chest tightness, and tachycardia [increased heart rate].
Wind turbine noise can also trigger nightmares and other disorders in children.
It is difficult for residents living near these installations to protect themselves against low-frequency emissions. Its effects are therefore of great importance to public health.
Conventional methods of assessing this type of damage, typically based on A-weighted equivalent sound level, are inadequate in the case of low-frequency noise and can lead to incorrect decisions by regulatory authorities.
This is the conclusion from the contribution by Leventhal (Noise and Vibration Consultant, Ashtead, United Kingdom).
According to the World Health Organization, low-frequency noise (LFN) is considered to be an environmental issue that can have a variety of adverse health effects. LFN is defined as a frequency range of about 10–200 Hz.
LFN is particularly problematic for sensitive people in their homes because it is difficult to attenuate with conventional building materials and hearing protection.
Low-frequency noise in the living environment causes extreme distress for persons who are sensitive to low-frequency sound.
A large number of studies on the effect of nightly traffic noise on sleep have been examined. Only the A-weighted sound pressure level is indicated in many publications.
The special effect of low-frequency noise on sleep was reviewed by Persson Waye (Department of Acoustics, Aalborg University, Denmark).
Experiments conducted in Japan showed that audible low-frequency sound can reduce the perception threshold for vibrations, causing the adverse effects of such vibrations to be stronger and more damaging than those of higher-frequency noise.
The effect of low-frequency noise and vibrations on health, called vibroacoustic disease (VAD), was described by Branco and his colleagues at the Center for Human Performance in Alverca, Portugal.
VAD was first documented in people employed as airplane technicians, commercial and military pilots, mechanical engineers, restaurant workers, and disc jockeys.
Experiments with both animals and humans have shown that this type of vibroacoustic stressor can even cause thickening of cardiovascular structures (cardiac muscle and blood vessels).
The pericardial thickening without inflammatory process and in the absence of the dysfunction of diastolic blood pressure (when the heart is resting) is therefore the clinical characteristic of VAD.
Additional symptoms of VAD include depression, increased irritability and aggression, a tendency for isolation, and decreased flexibility of thinking.
These investigations give ample evidence that the effect of low-frequency noise on the environment is highly underestimated and sorely in need of more study.
The Clintel report concludes that because their public health effects are being ignored, these wind turbine projects have been constructed in violation of European law.
Wind turbines are being built closer and closer to residential areas and are nearly as high as the Eiffel Tower, about 280 meters.
A third of the residents of Groningen have visited doctors due to health issues involving wind turbines.
The Netherlands’ government has never conducted a large-scale field study about the health implications of this low-frequency noise.
The citizens impacted by this health hazard are simply not being heard. Their grievances have been blocked from response by every government agency they contact.
The Aarhus Convention requires governments in Europe to allow citizens to participate in administrative decision-making procedures. This has not been done in the case of wind turbines.
Because of this failure, the Clintel report considers the construction of wind turbines to be illegal.
RIVM, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, has kept essential knowledge away from decision-makers and in legal cases.
In addition, the new wind turbine standards do not comply with European Union law (the SMB directive).
Permits for the construction of wind turbines appear to have been granted in violation of European law. In addition, the noise standards used for wind turbines are downright problematic.
The effects of noise pollution from wind turbines have not been evaluated according to the same standards used for industrial noise.
The Clintel report contends that the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment has kept essential knowledge away from decision-makers: administrators, politicians, and judges who rely on this information.
This is not an accident.
The RIVM lacks transparency and appears to be very selective about what is and is not revealed to these decision-makers, who are relying on this information about public health risks.
Essentially, the RIVM has a monopoly on scientific information.
These conclusions can be applied to other countries where wind turbines are being constructed.
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Header image: Wind Concerns
Editor’s note: there is the biblical account of the walls of Jericho being breached by sound, and experiments have shown low frequency sounds can break objects if the sound matches the object’s natural resonant frequency and is loud enough. Low frequency sounds can penetrate walls more easily than high frequencies because they have a longer wavelength. They can create resonance and vibration, and if the vibrations become too intense, the wall could shake itself apart. If a LF sound of 7.5Hz was projected at humans, it would match the body’s natural frequency, and could cause extremely unpleasant, and almost certainly fatal, disintegration.
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