Wind Turbines and Ghost Stories: The Effects of Infrasound on the Human Auditory System
Author: Abstract: Climate change and fossil fuel depletion have pushed many countries to seek and invest in alternative clean energy sources, such as wind energy. By converting kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical or electrical energy, wind farms in California, for example, power nearly 850,000 households each year, while producing negligible green house gases and contributing little to water pollution. Nevertheless, several ecological and environmental concerns remain. High levels of infrasound and low frequency sounds generated by wind turbines pose a potentially serious threat to communities near wind farms. Wind energy companies remain largely dismissive, claiming that wind turbine noise is subaudible, undetectable by humans, and therefore presents minimal risk to human health. However, various cochlear microphonic, distortion product otoacoustic emission, and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have demonstrated the detection of infrasound by the human inner ear and auditory cortex. Additional psychosomatic stress and disorders, including the “wind turbine syndrome” and paranormal experiences, are also linked to infrasound exposures. With wind turbines generating substantial levels of infrasound and low frequency sound, modifications and regulations to wind farm engineering plans and geographical placements are necessary to minimize community exposure and potential human health risks. Acoustics Today (2012), Volume 8, Issue 2, pp. 51-56 Hsuan‐hsiu Annie Chen Peter Narins
doi:10.1121/1.4729580
Neuroscience Undergraduate Program, University of California, Los Angeles
Departments of Integrative Biology & Physiology, and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles
