Self-reported health in the vicinity of five wind power production areas in Finland

Environ Int. 2021 Mar 8;151:106419. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106419. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTIn many countries, some people living in the vicinity of wind power production areas report having symptoms that they intuitively associate with wind turbines. Recently public discussions have focused especially on wind turbine infrasound. However, scientific evidence supporting an association is lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the association between exposure to wind turbines and the prevalence of self-reported symptoms, diseases and medications. A cross-sectional questionnaire study (n = 2,828) was conducted in the vicinity of five wind power production areas in Finland in 2015-2016. Each area had 3-16 turbines with a nominal power of 2.4-3.3 MW. The response rate was 50% (n = 1,411). Continuous and categorised (≤ 2.5, > 2.5-5, > 5-10 km) distance between the respondents' home and the closest wind turbine was used to represent exposure to wind turbines. Wind turbine sound pressure level outdoors could be reliably modelled only for the closest distance zone where the yearly average was 34 dB and maximum 43 dB. The data on symptoms (headache, nausea, dizziness, tinnitus, ear fullness, arrhythmia, fatigue, difficulties in falling asleep, waking up too early, anxiety, stress), diseases (hypertension, heart insufficiency, diabetes), and medications (analgesics for headache, joint/muscle pain and other pain, and medication for sleep disturbance, anxiety and de...
Source: Environment International - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: research