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Living in the shadow of a wind farm can be dangerous to your health. Noise and vibration coming from large turbines are behind an increase in heart disease, migraine, panic attacks and other health problems, according to research by an American doctor.

Dr Nina Pierpont, a leading New York paediatrician, has been studying the symptoms displayed by people living near wind turbines in the US, the UK, Italy, Ireland and Canada for more than five years. Her findings have led her to confirm what she has identified as a new health risk, wind turbine syndrome (WTS). However, Dr Pierpont also makes it clear that not all people living close to turbines are susceptible.

In the UK, Dr Christopher Hanning, founder of the British Sleep Society, who has backed her research, said: “Dr Pierpont’s detailed recording of the harm caused by wind turbine noise will lay firm foundations for future research. It should be required reading for all planners considering wind farms.

Her new material about the impact of turbine noise on health will be of concern to the Government given its plans for about 4,000 new wind turbines across the country. Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, has made wind power a central part of his new green policy to encourage renewable energy sources.

The British Wind Energy Association however has been quick to quash these claims saying “Wind turbines are quiet, safe and sustainable. It is not surprising that, according to a DTI report, 94 per cent of people who live near wind turbines are in favour of them. There is no scientific research to suggest that wind turbines are in any way harmful, and even many of the detractors of wind energy are honest enough to admit this.

“Noise from wind farms is a non-problem, and we need to move away from this unproductive and unscientific debate, and focus on our targets on reducing carbon emissions.”

We’d love to hear the views of anyone living close to a wind farm. Do you believe that you are at risk of WTS? Have you experienced more headaches, panic attacks and other health problems since the wind farm became operational?

Tags: heart disease, migraine, panic attacks, turbine noise, wind turbine syndrome

This entry was posted on Friday, August 7th, 2009 at 7:09 am and is filed under Outside of Work, Renewable Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.