Study: No Health Impact From Wind Turbines

A detailed literature review published on Tuesday by the American and Canadian wind industry associations found no medical basis for the health complaints that often arise near large wind-farm projects.

But the 85-page industry-financed study is unlikely to settle the persistent question of whether those who live near turbines are indeed susceptible to so-called “wind-turbine syndrome.”
Written by a seven-member panel of experts from a range of technical disciplines, the report concluded that there is no evidence that audible or “subaudible” turbine sounds and vibrations have physiological effects.

The authors did, however, concede that some people are irritated by turbine swishing noises, especially in the absence of other ambient sound:

An annoyance factor to wind turbine sounds undoubtedly exists, to which there is a great deal of individual variability. Stress has multiple causes and is additive. Associated stress from annoyance, exacerbated by the rhetoric, fears, and negative publicity generated by the wind turbine controversy, may contribute to the reported symptoms described by some people living near rural wind turbines.

“People’s attitudes towards wind turbines have a lot to do with whether they reported annoyance,” said Robert McCunney, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who also studies hearing loss and practices medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was on the panel that put the study together.

New York Times