Health Effects of LFN
This article contains information on Clinical Symptoms Resulting from Exposure to Low-Frequency Noise
Clusters of symptoms affecting many people living near wind turbines have been identified by Dr Amanda Harry (Cornwall, UK) and Dr Nina Pierpont, (NY, USA).
1. sleep disturbance
2. headache
3. tinnitus (ringing or buzzing in the ears)
4. pressure sensation in ears and/or head
5. dizziness - includes problems such as vertigo, light headedness, sensation of almost fainting, etc.
6. vertigo - the sensation of spinning, or the room moving
7. nausea
8. visual blurring
9. tachycardia (rapid heart rate)
10. irritability
11. problems with concentration and memory
12. panic episodes associated with sensations of internal pulsation or quivering, which may arise while awake or asleep
Health problems associated with people living near industrial wind farms was first identified as long ago as 1987 by N.D. Kelley in a paper prepared for the US Department of Energy and presented at the Windpower 87 Conference and Exposition in October 1987.
This report showed that inaudible infrasonic low-frequency noise (ILFN) produced by wind turbines can induce health problems in local residents, which become worse over time. It also recommended noise curbs on wind turbines. This report has been ignored by the wind industry for more than 25 years, and its existence has only recently come to light to dedicated groups fighting the forces of BIG WIND.
In more recent years GP Dr Amanda Harry (Cornwall, UK) noticed a cluster of clinical symptoms in people living in close proximity to wind farms. Dr Harrys work was expanded on by the American behavioural paediatrician Nina Pierpont, MD, PhD. Pierpont clinically examined a number of people living near wind farms who subsequently fell mysteriously ill.
Pierpont wrote a report in the form of a book, Wind Turbine Syndrome: A Report on a Natural Experiment. She identified a cluster of symptoms experienced by people suffering from exposure to low-frequency noise near wind farms.
In her book Pierpont also gave a detailed explanation of how signals from the vestibular system - sensors in the region of the middle and inner ears which detect the bodys balance, motion, and position are scrambled by low-frequency noise emitted by wind turbines.
Further recent research by Prof Alec Salt in the field of otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat) has given greater insight into how the ear responds to low-frequency noise. Unfortunately it is too detailed to go into here. Here is a link to Prof Salts research .