Not in my backyard: wind turbines power the future, but at what cost to residents' health?

Caryn Lipson

November 24, 2024

The hidden costs of "clean" energy

Climate change has spurred the development of technologies widely marketed as "green" and "clean," with claims that they are critical to saving the planet. However, many of these solutions—such as electric vehicles, solar panels, and hydropower dams—have hidden environmental and health costs. Wind turbines used to generate electricity are similarly promoted as a clean energy alternative, yet have their own share of health and environmental hazards for humans and wildlife.

Industrial wind turbines are towering structures with blades that can extend hundreds of feet long. Because of variations in wind, wind turbines need to be set up in different areas and not concentrated. They are linked together to form a national power grid to maintain a steady supply of energy.

Wind varies all the time so the electricity produced by a single wind turbine varies as well. Linking many wind turbines together into a large farm, and linking many wind farms in different areas into a national power grid, produces a much more steady supply overall.

Understanding infrasound: The unseen harm

Wind turbines create an unheard form of noise pollution called infrasound. Infrasound is a low-level frequency, under 20 Hz, that is inaudible to people, yet is picked up by our bodies since our cells are sensitive to pressure. This unnatural and irregular pressure disrupts many biological processes.

A recent study by Dr. Bellut-Staeck, highlighted by The Highwire, confirms what others have found about the harmful effects of infrasound on the human body. In her report, Bellut-Staeck discusses how infrasound affects certain endothelial cell structures [endothelial cells line the interior of blood vessels] known as mechano-sensors. These mechano-sensors play a critical role in regulating blood flow, adapting to changes in blood flow, and responding to physical forces “beat to beat.” However, when external forces disrupt this natural process, it leads to misinformation at the endothelial level. This disruption increases oxidative and oscillatory stress, a key factor in developing inflammatory diseases like atherosclerosis.

Industrial wind turbines create infrasound.

‍Misinformation, caused by external forces, must inevitably lead to an increase in oxidative and oscillatory stress, the main reason for a loss of endothelial integrity with inflammation diseases like atherosclerosis. This could indicate the long-sought pathophysiological way in which infrasound and vibration can exert a stressor effect at the cellular level. Noise-exposed citizens, who live near infrastructures such as biogas installations, heat pumps, block-type thermal power stations, and bigger industrial wind turbines (IWT’s), show worldwide mainly a symptomatology associated with microcirculatory disorder.

The Highwire authors Tracy Beanz & Michelle Edwards also referred to a 2021 report, published in Germany’s Tichy’s Einblick, which detailed the many health problems infrasound can cause.

‍In the human body, these health problems can lead to various symptoms: pressure in the eardrums and chest, nausea, headaches, exhaustion, and insomnia. The German Medical Journal also reports shortness of breath, depression, arrhythmias, tinnitus, dizziness, ear pain, and vision and hearing impairments.

Tichy's Einblick also found that people living up to 12 miles from the turbines cannot escape the infrasound.

These invisible waves propagate over long distances—astoundingly, up to over 12 miles—and pass through walls unimpeded! Humans cannot escape these waves by going inside or moving to lower rooms because infrasound penetrates.

In the 2020 video below, produced to garner support for Forest, Wisconsin residents fighting the wind farms, residents describe how they, their families, and their animals were sickened by infrasound from local wind turbines. From the video description:

The town of Forest, WI has concerns over the end results of the Highland Wind Farm. Forest has spent more than half-a-million dollars fighting the project at the Public Service Commission. The devastation from the Shirley Wind Farm is a prime example as to why the town is fighting this project.

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In a separate video (below), energy engineer Bill Acker also discuss the dangers of wind turbines.

So I convinced the town to hire an acoustician with experience in infrasound. We chose one, and we tested both sites. Both sites had very significant pressure pulsations in the air. That was kind of my "aha" moment when I finally thought, "Okay, I think I'm onto something here," and our acoustician proved it.

Well, after the tests were conducted, we took it back to the city of Green Bay and we contacted the company that owned the cooling towers. The company refused to do anything because it didn’t violate any codes. There are no codes that I know of in any community in the United States for infrasound, so we took the issue to the Board of Health as well as the cooling tower, hoping that maybe we could get something done through the Board of Health because the state didn’t want to do anything. The board, after much research, agreed with what we had found and declared the wind turbines hazardous to human health. (Emphasis added.)

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And, as documented in the next video, Kansas residents are pitted one against the other as they fight over wind turbines. From the video description:

Fierce battles are playing out around the country over how and whether renewable energy should be developed locally. The push for wind farms in rural Kansas has divided communities.

Risks beyond infrasound

Infrasound isn’t the only way wind turbines can harm health. Clintel, an independent foundation focused on informing the public about climate change and policies, has documented the following additional health risks posed by wind turbines.

Wind turbines emit harmful electromagnetic radiation, which Clintel links to a variety of health issues including an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, insomnia, and depression, and a rise in the use of antidepressants and sleep medication.

The rotating blades of wind turbines create a drop shadow, flickering effect, as sunlight passes through. Clintel notes that this phenomenon can cause significant health issues. Flickering at frequencies of 2.5 to 14 flashes per second, the drop shadow effect has been linked to symptoms such as seasickness or epileptic seizures in sensitive individuals.

(The drop shadow effect is similar to the impact of strobe light flashes but falls within a frequency range known to cause discomfort or health problems. Strobe lights designed to reduce epileptic risk typically flash at 1.4 Hz (about 84 flashes per minute), while higher-powered strobe lights operate at 1 Hz (60 flashes per minute) to maximize single-flash energy. By contrast, wind turbine flickering occurs at 2.5 to 14 flashes per second—between 150 to 840 flashes per minute—far exceeding the rates deemed safer for light-sensitive individuals. Studies show that strobe-like flickering can exacerbate disorientation and health problems in individuals already prone to sensory sensitivities.)
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Wind, rain, hail, and snow erode the polyester and polyurethane blades and must be replaced every 15-20 years. The resulting particulate matter that rains down is dangerous in itself, but it also contains bisphenol A, a known carcinogen and hormone disrupter. This was publicized in a February 2022 report issued by a number of health professionals including a professor of health:

‍Bisphenol belongs to the group of aromatic, carcinogenic compounds such as benzene and toluene. Bisphenol A is a very harmful hormone-disrupting substance with effects on reproduction, metabolism, the immune system and the development of children.

Environmental and Wildlife Impact

Clintel has documented additional hazards associated with turbines and wind farms, including their impact on weather patterns, the vast amount of land required compared to other energy sources, the toxins released during metal extraction for turbine production, and the disposal of worn blades, which cannot yet be recycled and are therefore buried underground.

It's not only humans affected by the turbines—wildlife is also harmed, with some species threatened with extinction.

Infrasound Risks Recognized Since the 1980s

The following is a 2019 German documentary about infrasound, the dangers of which have been known since the 1980s when the US military was considering it as a bioweapon.

Industrial wind turbine infrasound is not the best weapon, but it is a weapon. This German video documents the harmful effects of d the infrasound produced by industrial-sized wind turbines. The dangers of infrasound have been known since the 1980s when the U.S. military heavily invested in infrasound (below 20 Hz) as a weapon. It looked like it had great promise, according to Col. John B. Alexander who was involved in weaponizing it. The military gave up on infrasound as its effects on people were too random: some potential targets were seriously debilitated; others not so much. This video presents various studies by acoustical engineers and other scientists showing infrasound's affect [sic] on the ear, the heart, the brain and other organs.

An uncertain future

Beanz and Edwards referenced a recent Tichy’s Einblick article, stating that “in ideologically driven green Germany, any ill effects of the turbines were denied.” In the U.S. wind farm projects are still being financed; there are almost 75,000 turbines in 45 states, and the Biden-Harris administration just approved an additional offshore wind project, making it the 10th offshore one.

‍Time will tell how this dangerous energy source will move forward in the United States. Presently, there are at least 74,833 turbines located on land in at least 45 states, and the Biden-Harris administration approved this 10th offshore wind project on September 5, 2024.

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