What is the evidence for potential health impacts from wind power?

Abstract

Wind power is a major renewable energy source without most of the environmental pollution associated with the fossil fuel industries. It therefore has great potential to protect and improve health through reducing ambient air pollution, maintaining healthy ecosystems and reducing the risks of climate change. Climate change is in itself a major threat to human health, so a rapid transition to renewable energy is vital. In recent years in Australia, however, anti-wind groups have claimed that wind turbines can cause a wide array of health impacts including ‘wind turbine syndrome’. These claims and anecdotal reports are commonly found on internet searches and reported in the media. The focus of these claims has been primarily on suggested impacts from low frequency sound, particularly infrasound1. The issue has become highly politicised, so separating out the facts from the hyperbole can be difficult. Despite arguments being played out in the media and in the courts, and an Australian Senate Inquiry, there is a paucity of high quality research in the peer-reviewed literature directly on the health impacts of wind turbines. Nevertheless, there is some published evidence, primarily relating to perception and impacts of noise, and what relevant scientific evidence exists has been extensively reviewed. Over a dozen reviews of the literature have been undertaken over the last decade internationally,3 and in Australia a review has been undertaken by both the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Victorian Department of Health.