Wind turbines can cause adverse health effects: North American wind industry
Credit: Society for Wind Vigilance, windvigilance.com, January 11, 2010
Ontario — TheSociety for Wind Vigilance (SWV) has released its analysis of the American and Canadian Wind Energy Association–sponsored report on adverse health effects from industrial wind turbines. The SWV provides scientific and unbiased information on the adverse health effects of human exposure to industrial wind turbines through a volunteer-based advocacy group of health and other professionals.
The recent report, “An Expert Panel Review 2009, Prepared for American Wind Energy Association and Canadian Wind Energy Association” (A/CanWEA Panel Review), acknowledges that people are experiencing adverse physiological and psychological symptoms from exposure to industrial wind turbines.
The A/CanWEA Panel Review also acknowledges that wind turbine noise, including low frequency noise, may cause annoyance, stress and sleep disturbance.
World Health Organization (WHO) specifically lists annoyance and sleep disturbance as adverse health effects. Health Canada recognizes that annoyance, stress and sleep disturbance lead to other adverse health effects.
One of the authors of the A/CanWEA Panel Review, W. David Colby, MD, reinforced this position by stating during a recent radio interview: “We’re not denying that there are people annoyed and that maybe some of them are getting stressed out enough about being annoyed that they’re getting sick.”
Another author of the Panel Review, Geoff Leventhall, PhD, has previously acknowledged the serious nature of low frequency noise–induced annoyance by asserting, “The claim that their ‘lives have been ruined’ by the noise is not an exaggeration …” (“Low frequency noise and annoyance,” Noise Health 2004).
Dr. Arlene King, Chief Medical Officer of Health of Ontario, and Dr. Ray Copes, Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion, concur that wind turbines may cause annoyance, stress and sleep disturbance.
Globally, an increasing number of victims are reporting adverse health effects from exposure to industrial wind projects. Many families have abandoned their homes to protect their health. This cannot be denied. Yet no clinical research of victims was carried out for the A/CanWEA Panel Review.
To prevent these adverse health effects, authoritative science-based guidelines based on third party independent health studies must be developed.
Yet the A/CanWEA Panel Review inexplicably concludes by stating that it does not “advocate for funding further studies.” We note that the Panel Review was produced and sponsored by the industry-created and industry-supported American and Canadian Wind Industry Associations.
Dr. Michael Nissenbaum of the Northern Maine Medical Center is one of the specialists now associated with the Society for Wind Vigilance. He states: “An objective, medical science–based clearinghouse for the archiving, presentation, and analysis of health-related investigations pertaining to industrial wind turbines is both timely and sorely needed. These are enormous industrial machines that produce a noise qualitatively unlike anything else in our environment.”
The mission of the Society for Wind Vigilance is to mitigate the risk of both physiological and psychological adverse heath effects through the advancement of independent third party research and its application to the siting of industrial wind turbines.
To view complete analysis by the Society for Wind Vigilance, consult www.windvigilance.com.
Contact: Beth Harrington, Communications, 647-588-8647, beth.harrington@sympatico.ca
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy, Health, Noise
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