… a roadmap to this complicated website and subject ·
Wind Turbine Syndrome (WTS) is the clinical name Dr. Nina Pierpont has given to the constellation of symptoms experienced by many (not all) people who find themselves living near industrial wind turbines (see Articles by Pierpont).
1. sleep disturbance
2. headache
3. tinnitus (pronounced “tin-uh-tus”: ringing or buzzing in the ears)
4. ear pressure
5. dizziness (a general term that includes vertigo, lightheadedness, sensation of almost fainting, etc.)
6. vertigo (clinically, vertigo refers to 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 arise while awake or asleep
“In my expert opinion, from my knowledge of sleep physiology and a review of the available research, I have no doubt that wind turbine noise emissions cause sleep disturbance and ill health.” ·
Christopher Hanning, MD
Leading British sleep specialist, Dr. Christopher Hanning, explains the profound repercussions of wind turbines disrupting sleep—a matter the wind turbine salesman at your last town meeting, along with the wind industry in general, refuse to acknowledge, much less address in any realistic manner. Having reviewed a considerable body of clinical evidence (note: wind salesmen and acousticians are not clinicians), Hanning calls for setbacks of at least 1.5 km (1 mile). (Nina Pierpont, MD, PhD, would consider that inadequate. She calls for 2 km = 1.24 mi):
“The only mitigation of sleep disturbance from industrial wind turbine noise is a setback of at least 1.5km, and probably greater. This estimate is based on data from present installations, many of which have a much smaller rated capacity than those proposed by Nuon Renewables [a wind developer proposing a wind plant in Swinford, UK]“—Christopher Hanning, MD, “Sleep Disturbance and Wind Turbine Noise” (June 14, 2009), p. 27.
“Within three days” of the turbines starting up in June 2006, “we started having noise problems.” So begins the testimony by Mrs. Jane Davis—nurse midwife, child development specialist, and holder of a Masters degree in medical administration.
June 13, 2009. The book has been copy-edited, and Dr. Pierpont is making the minor fixes that are required. It’s on schedule to go to the book designer (Vancouver, BC) on July 1, 2009. He will take a week or two to complete the design he began last autumn, whereupon he sends the ms. to the printer (Massachusetts). More…
Nina Pierpont, MD, PhD, now offers clinical consulting to physicians treating individuals who believe they are suffering from Wind Turbine Syndrome. More…
In an article titled “Tuning and sensitivity of the human vestibular system to low-frequency vibration,”1 three British scientists have demonstrated that the inner ear is “extremely sensitive” to extremely low levels of low frequency noise, indeed “approaching the seismic sensitivity of the frog ear.” They go on to wonder about the “behavioral consequences” of such sensitivity—a degree of sensitivity, they make clear, that is found even in normal human subjects.
This is precisely what Nina Pierpont has been talking about. This new research offers substantial support for her claim that a perturbed vestibular apparatus is one of the keys to explaining Wind Turbine Syndrome. More…
F. Owen Black, MD, Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Senior Scientist and Director of Neuro-Otology Research, Legacy Health System, Portland, Oregon. (Editor’s note: Otolaryngology + Neurology = Neuro-Otology. Otolaryngology = Ear, Nose, Throat specialist.) Dr. Black is one of the foremost balance and vestibular (inner ear) disorder researchers in America.
The video, below, features Dr. Black discussing Dr. Pierpont’s forthcoming Wind Turbine Syndrome report, which Dr. Black read in manuscript. Our thanks to KATU Television, Portland, OR. (To open the video, click on the left-most button on the control panel at the bottom of the video screen. To pause the video, click on the button again.)
♥For more reviews of Dr. Pierpont’s report, visit Peer reviews on this site.♥
Wind farm near Iron Ridge, Wisconsin, May 2, 2009 (with thanks to Better Plan Wisconsin)
Ontario child wakes up at night screaming. In her study, Dr. Pierpont notes that young children woke up screaming from night terrors caused by turbines. This is a possible explanation for the screaming and the fact doctors could find nothing when examining the child.
CTV Canada, October 2008
Home of Larry Wunsch, Byron, Wisconsin, Spring 2008. Be sure to read noise engineer George Kamperman’sanalysis of this turbine noise, under Diaries & Reports.
Does this sound like a refrigerator to you? No, you say? Really? Well, my good fellow, the American Wind Energy Associationsays you’re wrong. “Today, an operating wind farm at a distance of 750 to 1,000 feet is no noisier than a kitchen refrigerator.” The British Wind Energy Associationwaxes romantic. (Ah, the devilishly charming Brits!) It declares turbines remind people of “the noise of leaves rustling in a gentle breeze.” (Excuse me while I get out my hanky and weep.) If what you just listened to doesn’t remind you of rustling leaves, old chap–you’re probably not a wind salesman. The Editor.
ABC New’s Charles Gibson holds a microphone to a wind turbine outside Bowling Green, Ohio, October 7, 2008. Click on the image, above, to listen to the result. He wryly calls it “the sound of the future.” Heaven help us! The Editor.
Noise of a single turbine in Aberdeenshire, UK
Then there’s the shadow flicker. The American Wind Energy Association says it “should not [pose] a problem in the United States.” Really?
World’s largest turbine. The EnerconE-126 is capacity rated at over 7 MW. Rotor diameter 126 meters (413 feet). By way of comparison, an American football field measures 360 feet. Hence the rotor itself is 1.15 times larger than a USA football field. These turbines are currently being installed in Germany.
Sign along fence-line at Charlie Porter’s horse farm, King City, Missouri.
The fence runs along a busy county road, according to Mr. Porter.
“In this photo the big crane in the background is replacing blades on 21
of the 27 wind turbines all around our home, because they’re cracking,”
Charlie Porter 8/11/08
“What do wind turbines sound like?” Here is what the Meyer family experiences. (The Meyers live outside the town of Byron, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin.)
Interview with Realtor, Barbara Ashbee, Shelburne, Ontario, Canada, 1/15/09. First of two-part video.
Interview with Realtor, Barbara Ashbee, Shelburne, Ontario, Canada, 1/15/09. Second of two-part video.
Wind turbine public meeting. Port Elgin, Ontario (Canada), June 22, 2009. Meeting was sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Natural Resources. With appreciation to Ron Stephens.
