WIND TURBINES AND HEALTH

The introduction of Ontario’s Green Energy Act in 2009 (1), designed to rid the province of air-polluting, coal-fired electricity generators, resulted in forests of giant wind turbine electrical generators springing up over the rural landscape of south-western Ontario. Almost immediately complaints began pouring in of adverse health effects. The official government response was that there was no convincing evidence of ill effects caused by the turbines, a position they claimed was supported by numerous studies. There is, however, ample evidence of the adverse health effects associated with low frequency sound waves (Low Frequency Noise or LFN) at and above certain threshold sound pressures (see below). Some people have abandonned their homes of many years because of the continual assault of the LFN. Protests multiplied across the province. The controversy heated up even further when plans were announced to establish offshore wind farms in Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Physicians around the world have recorded an array of similar symptoms associated with exposure to noise arising from wind turbines. Thes