FAQs

Are wind farms harmful to our health as sources of infrasound?

Infrasound and Low Frequency Noise are established as real causes of illness in some people, but there are no harmful infrasound effects from wind turbines.

There are all sorts of sources of infrasound in the modern world such as cars and other road traffic, aircraft, diesel engines, trains, shipping, factories, combustion, artillery, mining and quarrying, fridges and other household appliances, fans, compressors and pumps, music, TVs, and air conditioning. Infrasound is also ubiquitous in the natural environment from sources like air turbulence - even from earthquakes and storms, sometimes thousands of miles away.

Extensive work has already been carried out on infrasound from wind turbines, which demonstrated that "Low frequency noise and vibration levels were both found to comply with recommended residential criteria even on the wind farm site itself with the acoustic signal, below 20 Hz, being well below accepted thresholds of perception." In the words of infrasound expert John Leventhall: "There are no harmful infrasound effects from wind turbines."

If a generator were to emit infrasound, the turbine tower would be affected, noticeably vibrating, and although at below audible sounds, this would be detected by the on board power control systems which monitor the wind turbine and would automatically shut it off.

Tens of thousands of wind turbines have now been operating worldwide for up to 20 years, including in some of the countries with leading general studies on infrasound. No link or problem has been identified with the presence of wind turbines in these studies.

For more information have a look at the literature review "Low Frequency Noise and Infrasound from Wind Turbine Generators" prepared for the EECA by Bel Acoustic Consulting.

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