Robust independent research into the health effects of existing wind farms is long overdue, says professor emeritus Alun Evans, visiting senior research fellow, Centre for Public Health.
The title of this article is derived from that of Geoghegan and Culligan’s classic planning book, except ‘safely’ has been substituted for ‘sensitively.’ It might be argued that industrial wind turbines could never be erected sensitively in the Irish landscape, but the practice also has important implications for health.
These include accidents such as fire, toppling and ‘component liberation,’ loss of property value, which indirectly impinges on health, flicker, stress and annoyance, but the predominant problem is due to night-time noise leading to sleep disturbance and deprivation.
The evidence for adequate sleep as a prerequisite for human health, particularly child health, is overwhelming. Children who are deprived of sleep have impaired memory, and they are more likely to become obese. That is why ‘Encouraging more sleep’ is a just target of the current campaign against child obesity on this island. Paradoxically these same authorities maintain that there are no adverse health effects from wind turbines.
Shortly after wind turbines began to be erected close to housing, complaints emerged of adverse effects on health. Such reports have been dismissed as being subjective and anecdotal, but experts contend that the quantity, consistency, and ubiquity of the complaints constitute epidemiological evidence of a strong link between wind turbine noise, ill health, and disruption of sleep.
Yet the Government seems intent on imposing noise from industrial wind turbines on large swathes of peaceful countryside, as if is prepared to accept the health impairment of rural communities as ‘Collateral damage.’ Sleep deprivation is associated with an increased likelihood of developing a range of chronic diseases including Type II Diabetes, cancer (eg breast with shift work), Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), Heart Failure and Stroke. In the MORGEN Study, the benefit of adequate sleep in protecting against CHD equalled the protective contribution of not smoking cigarettes. Given that cigarette smoking is such a potent risk factor for CHD, this result is striking.
Current noise measurement techniques and metrics tend to obscure the contribution of impulsive low frequency noise and infrasound. A laboratory study has shown that low frequency noise is considerably more annoying than higher frequency noise and is harmful to health€ﾔit can cause nausea, headaches, disturbed sleep, and cognitive and psychological impairment. A cochlear mechanism has been proposed that outlines how infrasound, previously disregarded because it is below the auditory threshold, could affect humans and contribute to adverse effects. It has been demonstrated that sleep deprivation very rapidly changes the expression of a large number of genes affecting diverse physiological systems.
A large body of evidence now exists to suggest that wind turbines disturb sleep and impair health at distances and external noise levels that are permitted in most jurisdictions, including Ireland. When seeking to generate renewable energy through wind, governments must ensure that the public will not suffer harm from additional ambient noise. Robust independent research into the health effects of existing wind farms is long overdue, as is an independent review of existing evidence and guidance on acceptable noise levels.
Professor Evans will be speaking on this subject at Wind energy: the safety challenge for rural Ireland, an IOSH Rural Industries Section networking seminar, which takes place at Portlaoise Hertiage Hotel, County Laois, Ireland, on 27 March.
