Can Wind Turbines Make You Sick?

[FBaggins]

Several recent studies might explain what’s going on here. One of them, published in Health Psychology, found that the power of suggestion can induce symptoms associated with wind turbine syndrome. Researchers exposed 60 participants to 10 minutes of infrasound (vibrations too low in frequency to hear) and sham infrasound (that is, silence). Before the listening sessions, half the group was shown television footage of people who lived near wind farms recounting the harmful effects they said were caused by noise from the spinning blades. Within this group, the people who scored high on a test of anxiety became symptomatic whether they were exposed to low-frequency noise or sham infrasound.

As one of the authors of the study points out, this appears to be a classic case of the nocebo effect. It’s the evil twin of the placebo effect, which is often a pain-alleviating response to a sham pill or treatment. Nocebo effects are harmful symptoms that arise from negative information. For example, some participants in medical trials who are warned of potential adverse side effects experience precisely those side effects, even though they’re really taking a phony medication. The nocebo effect is psychogenic, a case of the mind making the body sick.

Several factors appear to be contributing to the sudden onset of medical problems attributed to wind turbines. A study released last week from the University of Sydney found that most of the health complaints about wind turbines came from an area of Australia where an organized anti-wind movement has been publicizing health concerns since 2009. (Coincidentally, the term wind turbine syndrome was coined in 2009 as the title of a self-published book.) "Health complaints were as rare as proverbial rocking horse droppings until the scare-mongering groups began megaphoning their apocalyptic, scary messages to rural residents," says study author Simon Chapman. As he pointed out to the Guardian: "If wind farms were intrinsically unhealthy or dangerous in some way, we would expect to see complaints applying to all of them, but in fact there is a large number where there have been no complaints at all."

...snip...

Still, concerns are so persistent globally that the World Health Organization (WHO) has looked comprehensively into the matter, concluding: "Despite the feeling of some people that more research needs to be done, scientific knowledge in this area is now more extensive than for most chemicals. Based on a recent in-depth review of the scientific literature, the WHO concluded that current evidence does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields."

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/alternative_energy/2013/03/wind_turbine_syndrome_debunking_a_disease_that_may_be_a_nocebo_effect.html

So wind and nuclear have more in common than just lots of clean power.

[NYC_SKP]

1. Also, driving a Prius saps your masculinity.

[kristopher]

2. Would have been a good OP without the final false equivalency...

The utility that operates Japan’s crippled atomic plant said Friday that it deserved most of the blame for the country’s nuclear crisis, in the company’s strongest remarks about its own shortcomings.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. acknowledged in a report that it was not prepared to deal with the massive earthquake and tsunami that ravaged northeastern Japan in March 2011. The twin disasters cut power at TEPCO’s Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, causing meltdowns at three reactors. Massive radiation leaks at that time contaminated air, water and soil around the plant, forcing about 160,000 residents to evacuate.

“Our safety culture, skills and ability were all insufficient,” TEPCO President Naomi Hirose told a news conference. “We must humbly accept our failure to prevent the accident, which we should have avoided by using our wisdom and human resources to be better prepared.”

The report said that TEPCO’s equipment and safety measures were not sufficient and that the meltdowns should have been avoided. It also said TEPCO didn’t try to inform the public of risks and troubles at the plant. The acknowledgement is a major reversal from TEPCO’s initial investigation report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/utility-that-operates-fukushima-cites-own-shortcomings-as-main-cause-of-japans-nuclear-crisis/2013/03/29/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/112739696

[FBaggins]

6. It isn't a false equivalency

When someone thousands of miles away gets a bloody nose and worries that it's radiation sickness - it's clearly the "nocebo" effect.

And just as with wind power, there are charlatans profiting from that effect.

[kristopher]

15. Yes it is a false correlation

It is like saying fear of snakes is the same as fear of clowns. One has rational roots, the other doesn't.

[pscot]

3. Popular delusions

and the madness of crowds.

[newfie11]

4. No one I know has become sick

And we have these all over Wyoming And N. Colorado.
A friend had them close to her home and after 4 years is the same as always.
Big difference from folks living near fracking.

[wtmusic]

5. People live next to freeways, airports, train tracks.

Is it harmful? Meh.

I don't want to look at them, or the transmission lines that accompany them.

[newfie11]

7. There are no transmission lines from the turbines

This has always puzzled me. I have no idea how the power is distributed from them.

[joshcryer]

8. The lines are buried.

[newfie11]

10. Thanks

I wondered about that. Does the power then go to a substation or is it ready to use coming from the turbines?

[joshcryer]

11. Goes to a substation with good peaking abilities.

Either natural gas peaking plants, some other storage method such as flywheels, hydro (which can ramp up or down as needed), or in the future Vehicle to Grid (electric vehicles sitting around not being driven being used to power the grid when there's intermittent).

You can see large power lines around solar facilities, such as the one here outside of Vegas. The one here is a mixture of CSP (concentrated solar power; using the suns heat to drive turbines to make electricity) and PV (photovoltaic, turns the sunlight directly into electricity). CSP can store the heat overnight and provide power when the sun isn't shining, not sure if the facility here does that or not.

Wind may have large power lines going to it in some places, mind you, I just never saw it. I think the ones in Texas do since they're relatively far from where there's demand.

edit: kristopher would have a better explanation, mine is tired, and probably inaccurate in places, I am winging it.

[wtmusic]

16. ?

"Texas is in the midst of a wind-power boom, and at the heart of it lies a conundrum: While plenty of ranchers are eager to host wind turbines, few want the unsightly high-voltage transmission lines needed to carry the power to distant cities running through their property.

The lack of transmission lines — and the relatively low price of natural gas — has thwarted the ambitions of wind-power advocates to expand the use of this alternative energy source in Texas. The oilman T. Boone Pickens, for example, bet heavily on wind a couple of years ago, ordering hundreds of turbines and announcing plans to build the world’s largest wind farm in the Panhandle at a cost of up to $12 billion. He later scaled back, canceling some of the turbine orders, giving up his land lease and saying he was looking elsewhere to build.

To encourage others, the state is moving forward on a contentious project to erect $5 billion worth of transmission wires to connect the turbines to the cities that need power. On Thursday, state regulators met in Austin and approved the route of a controversial line that will run about 140 miles through the Hill Country, one of the state’s most scenic regions."

http://www.texastribune.org/2011/01/21/texas-oks-new-wind-power-transmission-lines/

[joshcryer]

17. I mentioned that in post #11.

The poster was asking about turbines where lines aren't visible.

[joshcryer]

9. Ha, nice switch-a-roo.