Available Australian and international evidence does not support the notion that wind farms cause adverse health effects says the Australia Medical Association (AMA).
The AMA has published a position statement that should help reassure communities in the vicinity of wind farms, while further discrediting groups engaged in scare campaigns.
However, while wind farms may not be a health hazard, the panic being stirred up by some is.
“The reporting of supposed ‘health scares’ or the spreading of misinformation about wind farm developments may contribute to heightened anxiety,” AMA Vice President and Chair of the AMA Public Health Committee, Professor Geoffrey Dobb, says. Anxiety in itself is a health issue and can trigger or exacerbate other illnesses.
The AMA also points out wind turbine generated electricity does not involve production of greenhouse gases, other pollutant emissions or waste as is experienced with other forms of power generation, all of which can have significant direct and indirect health effects.
The AMA’s stance follows on from the National Health and Medical Research Council’s report earlier this year that also states there is no reliable or consistent evidence that wind farms are directly responsible for negative health effects in humans.
Last year, Professor Simon Chapman PhD FASSA, a Professor in Public Health at the University of Sydney, suggested Wind Turbine Syndrome may be a “communicated disease“.
The existence of “Wind Turbine Syndrome” was also debunked by Australia’s Climate And Health Alliance (CAHA) in 2012.
A community definitely suffering from wind farm related irritation are the people of Waubra. However, the source of their angst isn’t the wind farm itself – most residents are apparently happy with it – but the anti-wind association using the town name. Their pleas for the group to cease and desist have been ignored.
The AMA Position Statement on Wind Farms and Health 2014 can be viewed here.
