Canberra Times
Saturday 3/7/2010 Page: 12
There is no evidence that wind turbines can make people who live nearby sick, Australia's peak health body has concluded after a scientific review. The National Health and Medical Research Council has assessed the common complaints levelled at the wind powered energy sector, chiefly that its turbines also generate "infrasound" that can make wind farm neighbours feel ill. "While the range of effects such as annoyance, anxiety, hearing loss and interference with sleep, speech and learning have been reported... there is no published scientific evidence to positively link wind turbines with adverse health effects," the council said yesterday.
The council said a recent United States study into wind turbines and infrasound - sound that was "generally inaudible to the human ear" - found no evidence it could impact on the physical health of those living nearby. This was backed by a study focused on three British wind farms, it said, while the World Health Organisation also took the view there was no evidence of a health impact. The council said there was a mental impact on those who "perceived infrasound" and this was "annoyance."
"The situation is further complicated by findings that people who benefit economically from wind turbines were less likely to report annoyance, despite exposure to similar sound levels as people who were not economically benefiting," the council said. There was a similar lack of evidence to support complaints that "electromagnetic radiation, shadow flicker and blade glint" from wind turbines could impact on health. The statement was welcomed by the peak body, Clean Energy Council. Policy director Russell Marsh said more than 100,000 wind turbines had been installed across 80 countries and yet there remained "no credible evidence that wind turbines have a direct effect on people's health."
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