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Concept
Wind turbine syndrome
Summary
Wind turbine syndrome and wind farm syndrome are terms for the alleged adverse human health effects related to the proximity of wind turbines. Proponents claim that these effects include congenital abnormality, cancer, vertigo, nausea, autism, ADHD, death, tinnitus, stress, fatigue, memory loss, attention deficit, migraines and sleep deprivation. for which there is no scientific backing. The distribution of recorded events, however, correlates with media coverage of wind farm syndrome itself, and not with the presence or absence of wind farms. Neither term is recognised by any international disease classification system, nor do they appear in any title or abstract in the United States National Library of Medicine's PubMed database. Wind turbine syndrome has been characterized as pseudoscience.
One Australian fossil fuel industry funded anti-wind farm astroturfing group, the Waubra Foundation, has been identified amongst those involved in promoting the idea of wind turbine syndrome. An investigation led to the foundation being stripped of its status as a health promotion charity.
Since 2003, 25 reviews have been published of the scientific literature on wind turbines and health. These studies have consistently found no reason to believe that wind turbines are harmful to health.
There is still an unproven belief that infrasound can cause symptoms, including tinnitus, stress, fatigue, memory loss, attention deficit, vertigo, migraines and sleep deprivation.
A panel of experts commissioned by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection concluded in 2012 that "there is not an association between noise from wind turbines and measures of psychological distress or mental health problems."
A 2009 Canadian study found that "a small minority of those exposed report annoyance and stress associated with noise perception..." [however] "Annoyance is not a disease." The study group pointed out that similar irritations are produced by local and highway vehicles, as well as from industrial operations and aircraft.
Official source
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