June 28, 2014
Ontario

Turbine study points to infrasound

New study points to health concerns again about wind turbines | Doctor Lynn says U.K. study finds infrasound could be cause of health side effects | by Bayshore News Staff | June 28, 2014 | www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca

A recent report from the United Kingdom is shedding new light on low frequency sound dispersion and the overall impact on nearby residents and the environment.

Infrasound is lower than 20-Hertz in frequency, the “normal” limit of human hearing.

Grey-Bruce Medical Officer of Health, Doctor Hazel Lynn, tells Bayshore Broadcasting News the document suggests Health Canada and similar organizations should consider the effects of infrasound in regards to wind farms.

At 550-metres the sound pressure wave coming off of an industrial wind turbine is reduced to 30-decibels, which is no louder than the noise in your bedroom at night.

However, infrasound is dependant on atmospheric conditions such as air pressure, wind direction and cloud cover – and the lower the frequency, the further it travels.

According to Doctor Lynn, if you move people two-kilometres from wind turbine developments, the distress level decreases significantly.

She says a lot of the studies on infrasound are completed by the United States Navy.

The critical motion sickness range, which is thought to be responsible for the side-effects some nearby residents experience, is between 1-9 Hertz.

At those frequencies, industrial wind turbines produce sound pressure waves that are allegedly much stronger than the 40-decibel limit allowed under the Green Energy Act.

Even with this information, Doctor Lynn tells us there isn’t much the Grey-Bruce Health Unit can do to measure infrasound and make meaningful recommendations.

The MOH says it took decades to realize the harmful affects of smoking, and Dr. Lynn is confident it’ll take a similar amount of time to analyze the data from wind turbines.

In some countries wind turbine set-backs are in excess of two-kilometres, while the Netherlands effectively ended on-shore developments in 2011 by cancelling subsidies.

A report from the United Kingdom is shedding new light on low frequency sound dispersion and the overall impact on nearby residents and the environment.

Infrasound is lower than 20-Hertz in frequency, the “normal” limit of human hearing.

Grey-Bruce Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Hazel Lynn, tells Bayshore Broadcasting News the document suggests Health Canada and similar organizations should consider the effects of infrasound in regards to wind farms.

At 550-metres the sound pressure wave coming off of an industrial wind turbine is reduced to 30-decibels, which is no louder than the noise in your bedroom at night.

However, infrasound is dependant on atmospheric conditions such as air pressure, wind direction and cloud cover – and the lower the frequency, the further it travels.

According to Dr. Lynn, if you move people two-kilometres from wind turbine developments, the distress level decreases significantly.

She says a lot of the studies on infrasound are completed by the United States Navy.

The critical motion sickness range, which is thought to be responsible for the side-effects some nearby residents experience, is between 1-9 Hertz.

At those frequencies, industrial wind turbines produce sound pressure waves that are allegedly much stronger than the 40-decibel limit allowed under the Green Energy Act.

Even with this information, Dr. Lynn tells us there isn’t much the Grey-Bruce Health Unit can do to measure infrasound and make meaningful recommendations.

The MOH says it took decades to realize the harmful affects of smoking, and Dr. Lynn is confident it’ll take a similar amount of time to analyze the data from wind turbines.

In some countries wind turbine set-backs are in excess of two-kilometres, while the Netherlands effectively ended on-shore developments in 2011 by cancelling subsidies.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/06/28/new-study-points-to-health-concerns-again-about-wind-turbines/