The inaudible sound caused by wind farms is no worse than that from other rural and urban environments and does not affect human health, a review by the Victorian Department of Health has found.
Some groups claim the inaudible noise from wind turbines, known as infrasound, can trigger health problems including dizziness, headaches, and insomnia. Together, the syndromes are sometimes described as ”wind turbine syndrome”.
The Health Department review, released late last week, assessed the evidence and found it does not ”support claims that inaudible sounds can have direct physiological effects. Physiological effects on humans have only been detected at levels that are easily audible.”
The report says infrasound is generated by many sources, such as trains, breaking waves and airconditioners. The department found the evidence showed wind farms produced no more infrasound than the background level in other environments.
”Humans have been exposed to high levels of infrasound throughout our evolution, with no apparent effects,” the report says.
Uh oh. There’s a problem. You’re assuming Windbaggers believe in evolution.
Simon Chapman, a professor of Public Health at the University of Sydney, has been collecting anecdotes heard and seen on the internet about purported wind turbine effects. They include “vibrating lips” and herpes. Chapman writes:
I commenced building this collection of ever-growing claims made about health problems in humans and animals that wind farm opponents attribute to exposure to wind turbines in January 2012. All the claims below are referenced to their web sources, mostly websites of opponents of wind farms and submissions they have made to governments.
Opponents of wind turbines have reacted badly to this list which has been downloaded many thousands of times. They argue that by publishing it and regularly updating it with new claims, I am thereby “ridiculing” people who say they are ill.
This is a peculiar claim which suggests that those who actively publicise these alleged problems want to walk on both sides of the street: on the one hand, they continue to publicise particular symptoms and diseases because they wish to promote awareness about the harms they believe are being caused. They then cry that it is disgraceful that all such complaints should be placed together here, because … well … it invites ridicule to see almost every conceivable health problem being attributed to wind turbines, especially because in regions like Europe, turbines are very common in many nations.
Some windbaggers insist that turbine effects can “rock stationary cars even further than a kilometer away from the nearest wind turbine..” and extend outward for a hundred kilometers.
Does this mean wind turbines can cause herpes in space?
Further research needed.
I despair for the humanity – reading through the long list of aliments wind turbines have now taken over from local witches as the cause of all evil.
didn’t we go through the enlightenment or did I just dream it?
Call it the Dobler Effect–Lloyd Dobler. They’ll Say Anything.