TORONTO - Noise and vibration from giant wind turbines may be annoying but pose no risk to human health, an industry-funded study concludes.
However, critics -- who maintain the electricity-generating turbines disrupt the sleep and even the heart rhythms of those who live near them -- aren't convinced. They're dismissing the study as worthless, industry-financed spin.
The study was financed by the Canadian and American wind energy associations, which asked an international panel of medical, scientific, acoustic and audiological experts to review all published research on the potential health impacts of wind turbines.
Dr. David Colby, acting medical officer of health in Ontario's Chatham-Kent region and one of the authors of the study, said the experts were given "an absolutely open mandate" and their conclusions were not "tainted" by the industry that paid for them.
"None of us here have our opinions for sale," he said in an interview.
The study acknowledges that a minority of people find the intermittent swooshing noise emitted by the turbines' giant blades to be annoying. But it concludes: "Annoyance is not a pathological entity."
The study says there's "nothing unique" about the noise or vibrations emitted by wind turbines and no evidence that the audible or sub-audible sounds have any direct adverse effect on health.
It suggests that those who are bothered by turbines simply have a lower tolerance for annoying sounds of all sorts.
"A major cause of concern about wind turbine sound is its fluctuating nature. Some may find this sound annoying, a reaction that depends primarily on personal characteristics as opposed to the intensity of the sound level."
But John Laforet, president of Wind Concerns Ontario, called that "weasel words."
"If someone's health is adversely effected, it doesn't have to be a disease ... These things have a devastating impact on people if they're built too close to homes," he said.
He said there are more than 100 people in Ontario alone who've complained about adverse effects from wind turbines. The most common complaint is sleep disruption, which Laforet said can "have serious impacts on your overall health ... everything from cognitive ability to your ability to function."
Laforet said what's needed is government-funded independent research into the health consequences of living near wind turbines.
However, the industry study concludes that the small number and unscientific nature of cases of alleged adverse health effects thus far are "insufficient to advocate for funding for further studies."
Colby acknowledged that someone who can't sleep due to irritating noises has a serious problem.
"It is (serious) and nobody would say otherwise. But that's not the same as having like an organic disease."
In terms of intermittent noise levels, Colby said living next to wind turbines is similar to living close to a busy highway. While most people won't find it troublesome, he said governments planning for more wind energy projects will have to accept "you can't please everybody."
