Wind Farm Noise Can Cause Problems-Study

Some comments from readers of the telegraph.uk.co near the end


Wind farms can cause noise problems finds study
The noise caused by wind farms can make some people ill, according to experts.

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent
Published: 7:30AM GMT 28 Jan 2010

Comments 34 | Comment on this article

Wind farms have traditionally been seen by protesters as a blot on the British countryside Photo: AFP / GETTY
The study by a panel of independent experts found that the irritation caused by the noise around wind farms can effect certain individuals.

Scientists dismissed the idea of a "wind turbine syndrome" where the vibrations in the air or the particular sound waves from wind turbines cause headaches, nausea and panic attacks.


However, they did concede that the swishing sound caused by wind turbines can "annoy" some people, keeping them awake at night and even causing psychological problems because of the stress.

The Government is planning on building thousands more wind turbines onshore and the report has led calls for more research into the noise effects caused by the turbines.

But the wind industry said if wind turbines were harmful, it would be impossible to live in a city given the sound levels normally present in urban environments.

The Government insisted that wind farms do not have a direct impact on health.

Wind farms have traditionally been seen by protesters as a blot on the British countryside, but it has now emerged that their noise may make people ill.

A new study found no evidence for "wind turbine syndrome" where the wind farms directly cause a host of health problems such as headaches, nausea and panic attacks.

But the swishing sound caused by wind turbines can be a problem for certain people, causing sleep deprivation and even mental health problems.

It has sparked renewed debate on the Government's plans for more onshore wind and led to calls for more research into the problems caused by noise.

A panel of independent experts in public health, audiology and medicine looked at peer-reviewed studies on the health effects of wind turbines.

Wind Turbine Sound and Health Effects, commissioned by the American Wind Energy Association, found that some people may be "annoyed" by the sound of wind turbines. A major cause of concern is the fluctuating nature of the sound, which is particularly stressful for some people because it is difficult to get accustomed to intermittent noise.

Dr Geoff Leventhall, an honorary fellow of the UK's Institute of Acoustics and one of the authors of the study, said noise from wind turbines can disturb people in the same way as any other noise pollution, such as an airport nearby.

"The conclusions of our report were that the main effects of wind turbines noise is similar to the effect of any other noise and will disturb people if they are listening to a noise they do not want to hear. One of the main effects is sleep disturbance which can lead to other stress related effects."

Presenting the evidence at a Wind Turbine Noise meeting organised by the IOA in Cardiff, he emphasised that only a small number of people find the noise distressing, which can lead to sleep deprivation and psychological problems.

"The number of people who suffer these extreme effects are small and ** if the turbines are designed properly the effects are minimised even further," he added.

Jane Davis is hoping to take the country's first private nuisance case against a wind farm to the High Court.

The 54-year-old was forced to move from her home in Lincolnshire after eight wind turbines were built in 2006.

The qualified nurse said one in five wind farms cause noise problems for the local people.

"All I know is the amount of health problems people have suffered since [the turbines were put up] seem to be excessive in relation to what was happening," she said. "Those symptoms include sleep deprivation, tittinus, vertigo, depression, raised blood pressure, atrial fibrillation (abnormal heart beat), needing to go the lavatory at night more often than you would normally, pneumonia, ear infections, stomach disorders and psychological stress."

Mrs Davis said 190 campaigners around the country have complained of noise and are expected to consider legal proceedings if the test case is successful.

"This is not Nimbyism. These things have devastated my life and continue to do so," she said. "The last four years have been hell and there has been no redress."

The Government has plans to build up to 6,000 new turbines onshore over the next ten years.

Mary Stevens, policy officer at the charity Environment Protection UK, said there will need to be more research into the problems caused by noise.

"While we fully support the deployment of renewable energy, we believe, that like any major development, the siting and operation of wind farms must be carried out with full regard to any significant and lasting impacts on local environmental quality and health," she said.

However the British Wind Energy Association pointed out that the new report said there were no direct health effects from wind farms.

"The findings of the study tally with UK research on the subject. In 2007 a Government-backed study carried out by the University of Salford found that only one wind farm in the UK was ever found to present a noise nuisance to residents and the issue has since been resolved," a spokesman said.

Wind turbines by numbers

The Government wants to built up to 6,000 new wind turbines on land over the next ten years.

At the moment there are more than 2,500 turbines onshore.

The turbines are around 300ft high

Onshore wind provides around 2.5 per cent of the country's electricity needs

The current limit for noise is 43 maximum decibels at night

Campaigners want it reduced to 33 decibels at night

If wind turbines cause problems so do human hamster cities, car exhaust (black lungs/ cancer), trains, neon lights, electricity, chemicals, cigarettes, music, plastics....
Kelvin Jones
on January 28, 2010
at 11:18 PM
Report this commentNow for a study on the deleterious effects of urban traffic noise, please.
Phil
on January 28, 2010
at 10:22 PM
Report this commentMilly Leadley, take a moment and actually read the wind industry guff you've just regurgitated. It's arrant nonsense and 10 minutes independent thought and research would show you how disingenuous it is. Wind turbine noise is different from any other noise pollution be it traffic, trains, aircraft or industrial plant, including air conditioning. The impulsive nature and low frequency content means that it carries further, is more disturbing and is heard over other noises such as traffic and the wind in the trees.
Chris Hanning
on January 28, 2010
at 10:08 PM
Report this commentWindfarms are a scam. Rajendra Pachauri has vested interests in wind energy companies. James Delingpole, where are you on this scam? People don't hear the sound that affects and causes their ill health because one cannot 'hear' infrasound. The energy lobby wrote their own article. One couldn't call that peer-reviewed. It's all political ideology and Pachaure is behind the mess so believed by all governments. If only the politicians would do their own homework instead of relying on the lobbyists. The entire concept is a scam designed to hike your energy bills to new heights!
AndyInCanada
on January 28, 2010
at 10:01 PM
Report this commentJust the sight of them makes me feel ill.

Wouldn't be so bad if they were really an effective way of making electricity and not simply a means of making money.
Perry
on January 28, 2010
at 09:52 PM
Report this commentIf you are a fisherman who digs
for his own bait like "worms" you
may not be able to find very many
around the wind farms??????
bernie
on January 28, 2010
at 09:51 PM
Report this commentIf you are a fisherman who digs
for his own bait like "worms" you
may not be able to find very many
around the wind farms??????
bernie
on January 28, 2010
at 09:49 PM
Report this commentIt's the power of advertising and propaganda that is pushing these wind farms.

And now Miliband has the damned cheek to say it is socially un-acceptable to be against them,
Richard Kellaway
on January 28, 2010
at 09:31 PM
Report this commentOver the very cold weather period after Xmas wind generators were contributing a massive half of one percent of UK power.
david
on January 28, 2010
at 08:02 PM
Report this commentMary Young

Thank you for the link to www.windturbinesyndrome.com. Those are exactly the symptoms suffered by my sister and others who are sensitive to this noise. I will pass it on.

I hope that Frederick Roots and Liam McDermott have learned something new. Birds and beasts get more consideration than people when it comes to protection of habitat in the hills of Wales, and elsewhere it seems.
mariwarcwm
on January 28, 2010
at 07:48 PM
Report this commentWind energy could help to reach the Uk target of producing 15% of enenry needs by 2020. Wind energy is not the answer to the enery gsp just a contribution, and the noise syndrome is most certainly not true as they make as much noise as air-conditioning and that only is you stand in the same field, and the wind turnine has to be over a 650m away from any household.
Milly Leadley
on January 28, 2010
at 07:42 PM
Report this commentThe negatives of wind power so greatly outweigh the small amount of energy they produce I'm surprised the European environmentalist don't demand they be stopped. As a bird lover it sickens me to think of the thousands of birds being killed. The development of Nanosolar has rendered wind obsolete but the monied interests behind them continue to thrive. Let's stop them!
jim greenfield
on January 28, 2010
at 07:07 PM
Report this commentRoll on the day when compensation claims start to roll in from families whose lives have been ruined by these utterly pointless monstrosities.

@Frederick Roots - perhaps you might like to put an offer in on Jane Davis' house. You could probably get it for next to nothing...
David
on January 28, 2010
at 07:06 PM
Report this commentWind power is environmentally devastating. As a bird lover it sickens me. With the development of Nanosolar wind is obsolete. The turbines must be taken down!
jim greenfield
on January 28, 2010
at 07:06 PM
Report this commentNor only is the potential for audio damage to be considered, in the USA there are reports of these turbines causing major interference with air traffic radar.
mahatchma
on January 28, 2010
at 06:11 PM
Report this commentA new study found no evidence for "wind turbine syndrome"
OR
But the swishing sound caused by wind turbines can be a problem for certain people, causing sleep deprivation and even mental health problems.
Now which is it? I have been the recipient of a steady cyclical acoustic force, and indeed it caused me great discomfort


mike b
on January 28, 2010
at 05:52 PM
Report this commentAmazed that these turbines can still obtain insurance cover. In due time a court will award damages for the nuisance inflicted and health problems caused. Would not want to be the insurer who has to pay up.
Tom
on January 28, 2010
at 05:25 PM
Report this comment"independent experts"
"Scientists dismissed the idea.."
"the government insisted that..."

Does this sound familiar? Global warming anyone??
Jillian
on January 28, 2010
at 05:18 PM
Report this commentA Danish woman bought an upland farm near Pencader in West Wales, and a Swedish firm put up several wind turbines. Those living near are being made ill by the noise, but the Danish lady has returned to Denmark, and collects a handsome rent. I find this very cruel. I know that village well, and feel sorry for the innocent people living there. They really need to be listened to seriously.
mariwarcwm
on January 28, 2010
at 05:11 PM
Report this commentExpat in France
One reason why no one is commenting is that wind farms are located in remote country areas, such as upland Wales, and not in the lush meadows where Daily Telegraph readers live. In areas that would be suitable, such as around Salcombe, they are seen off by the ferocious Daily Telegraph reading locals. It's the poor who suffer, as usual.
mariwarcwm
on January 28, 2010
at 04:47 PM
Report this commentIf there is no noise from wind turbines why, then, is an international Conference held every two years on - Wind Turbine Noise?

To the couple of couch experts who have so glibly commented - do you really imagine that many families from different countries have abandoned their homes because they're all nutters?
Do yourself a favour and learn about the subject, as some of us have tried to do, before pontificating. Click on to www.windturbinesyndrome.com and look at the reports, letters and videos or, even better, obtain Dr Nina Pierpont's peer-reviewed book Wind Turbine Syndrome. When you've done so, you may be grateful that you live 100 miles, or whatever, away!

Mary Young
on January 28, 2010
at 04:47 PM
Report this commentFrederick Roots:"There is no possibility that noise at the level produced by a wind farm could actually CAUSE illness. It's just total rubbish."

A highly dubious assertion in the context of the long established disturbance to some people caused by ultra low frequency sound. Sound in the region of 2Hz would seem to cause nausea and other distressing phenomena. Unlike higher frequencies it carries for some distance and can penetrate thick walls.
Greg Lorriman
on January 28, 2010
at 04:40 PM
Report this commentThe sheer bile of "Frederick Roots" and "Liam McDermott" covers a deep ignorance of the facts and utterly closed minds.
It is beyond doubt that wind turbine noise causes not just sleep disturbance but also ill health. Check out the work of Dr Nissenbaum at the Mars Hill wind farm in Maine as well as the data collected by Wind Concern Ontario in addition to that of Dr Nina Pierpont.

Dr Leventhall's insistence that the symptoms of "wind turbine syndrome", which are consistent across many countries and cultures, are not due to low frequency sound is not shared by a number of equally well qualified experts.

Whatever the cause, it is evident that wind turbines continue to be placed far too close to housing. The recent discovery that the DTI/DECC edited out recommendations by its own consultants to reduce permitted noise levels in 2007 adds to the suspicion that the industry knows that there is a problem and is doing it's best to hide it.
Chris Hanning
on January 28, 2010
at 04:34 PM
Report this commentDarius

Thank you for that explanation. My sister was driven out of her Welsh farm where she had been very happy for 30 years. It was the low frequency noise that affected her. I thought she was going to die, and the worst thing was that nobody believed her. She moved house and was immediately restored to health
mariwarcwm
on January 28, 2010
at 04:32 PM
Report this commentit is not the level of the noise from wind farms which is generally the problem, but the "noise quality". In a small number of cases this leads to a low level, but steadily fluctuating sound. According to a survey a few years ago, only four out of 130 UK wind farms had this problem and not everybody who could hear it had a bad rection to the sound. So this puts the whole thing into a clearer perspective.
HG
on January 28, 2010
at 04:21 PM
Report this commentFrederick,
The ultra low frequency waves produced as the turbine tips and blades rotate carry for miles, and they can be detected by the human body, and can be upsetting or unsettling.
To make the situation more complex, ULF levels will vary by position, nodes and antinodes of resonance that are also dependant on terrain and intermodulation between other adjacent turbines, so it is impossible to quantify a "reasonable"dB level of annoyance.
These are unique in this effect.
Spend a few hours living next to a nightclub using sub bass bins; you’ll see what I mean.
The aspect of no control over the sound makes its psychological impact worse.
A right to a good nights sleep is vital to the nations mental health.

Darius
on January 28, 2010
at 04:03 PM
Report this comment"...wind farms can make some people ill..."

They make me ill just thinking about them...
Expat in France
on January 28, 2010
at 03:24 PM
Report this commentWind farms are useless since there is no guarantee of wind. In our worse winter for 30 years, there was so little wind that wind farms were only producing about 8% of their rated output. If we had had only wind energy, there would have been power cuts. Electrictity would have had to have been rasioned so that people received electricty for only about 1.5 hrs per day. That would mean that all homes would be without heating nearly all day long (even with gas or oil, electrity is required for the pump). There would have been tens of thousands of old people dying had we been reliant upon wind enrgy. A similar experience with the floods in Northhumberland in November last year. What is required is energy security and wind farms cannot provide this and the entire idea should be scrapped
/7085086/Wind-farms-can-cause-noise-problems-finds-study.html