October 15, 2012
Letters, Wales

Wind farm noise

Submitted to New Scientist

I couldn’t believe the biased rubbish written the article “The Sickening truth about wind farm syndrome” by Prof Simon Chapman in New Scientist on 08 Oct 2012. It is obvious he doesn’t live near a wind farm. I firmly believe that increased health problems will proliferate as wind farms continue to multiply and more people are subjected to regular exposure to LFN and infrasound.

I have personally met a person living near a wind farm who became mysteriously ill and eventually lost her job. 2 years later, after reading a letter in a local paper written by an expert in LFN, they finally realised that the wind farm was probably causing her illness. They have now left their home and I have lost touch with them, so I don’t know the outcome.

My wife is very sensitive to low frequency noise LFN and started hearing unexplained LFN over a wide area and also at home 6 years ago. It was affecting her ability to sleep and was making her tired and stressed.

We met other people who also started hearing LFN in the autumn of 2006.

2 years after first hearing the LFN we were told the unexplained LFN could be emitted by one or more wind farms – something I hadn’t even considered until that point.

I started investigation this possibility I soon discovered that the start of the LFN saga coincided with the commissioning of a wind farm – 25 miles (40 km) from our home. We live in a very rural location at the end of a long track & have no mains electricity. The nearest main road is at least 6 miles away as the crow flies. There is no possible source of LFN anywhere near our home. Nor can we see the wind farm we suspect is emitting the LFN.

An environmental health officer recorded the LFN in our home 4 years ago, so we know the LFN my wife hears in not psychosomatic. All average background noise (except around 320 Hz – due to a crowing cock pheasant) in the normal hearing range of frequencies was below 10 dB. The average LFN from 10-50 Hz was above 10 dB, with the peak average LFN of approx 28 dB in the 16-20 Hz 1/3rd octave frequency bands.

There is a longstanding but growing public health problem of low frequency noise pollution, which requires urgent multidisciplinary research, using those with the appropriate skills, education and open minded inquisitive attitude.

The wind farm industry continues to maintain that there is no proof that industrial sized wind turbines contribute to ill health in people – that is because no scientific studies have been conducted. It is not is not in the wind industry’s interest to prove that their cash cows cause serious and cumulative health problems to people who are sensitive to LFN.

I invite you to read the attached document which I wrote earlier this year.

It adds further details to the text in this email.

Sincerely,
Emyr Griffiths
Wales,
UK


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/10/15/wind-farm-noise-2/