Many consider wind turbines’ infrasound as health hazard

Some people in Finland have reported a variety of symptoms that they themselves have attributed to the infrasound produced by wind turbines, according to an official analysis.

The analysis carried out as part of the government's joint research activities examined whether the infrasound produced by wind turbines has harmful effects on human health, said an official press release.

The studies focused on areas where residents have been known to attribute their symptoms to the infrasound created by wind turbines.

The objective of this research project was to investigate the infrasound produced by wind turbines and its effects. The project comprised three components – surveys, long-term measurements, and exposure tests.

The survey examined the symptoms associated with the infrasound from wind turbines with a particular focus on the prevalence of symptoms in the vicinity of areas where wind power is produced.

One-third of the residents who attributed their symptoms to wind turbines classified their symptoms as severe. The range of reported symptoms was very broad. The most common were chronic diseases and functional symptoms and disorders.

The respondents who attributed their symptoms to infrasound were more likely than others to consider the wind turbines disruptive.

In addition, they were more likely to regard wind turbines as a health risk than people who did not attribute their symptoms to the infrasound produced by the turbines.

Many people who experienced such symptoms also attributed them to the vibrations and electromagnetic field caused by the wind turbines.

Long-term measurements were used to determine what kind of noise the wind turbines generated inside the nearby dwellings. Measurements were carried out for a total of 308 days in two different areas where the wind turbines had a nominal power output of 3–3.3 MW.

According to the long-term measurements, wind turbines altered the sound pressure levels in a more urban direction in the sound environments of dwellings within a radius of approximately 1.5 km. The frequency of the noise generated by wind turbines inside dwellings was very low, less than 2 Hz.