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Health-Based Audible Noise Guidelines Account for Infrasound and Low-Frequency Noise Produced by Wind Turbines

Setbacks for wind turbines have been established in many jurisdictions to address potential health concerns associated with audible noise. However, in recent years, it has been suggested that infrasound (IS) and low-frequency noise (LFN) could be responsible for the onset of adverse health effects s...

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Autores principales: Berger, Robert G., Ashtiani, Payam, Ollson, Christopher A., Whitfield Aslund, Melissa, McCallum, Lindsay C., Leventhall, Geoff, Knopper, Loren D.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4338604/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25759808
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2015.00031
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author Berger, Robert G.
Ashtiani, Payam
Ollson, Christopher A.
Whitfield Aslund, Melissa
McCallum, Lindsay C.
Leventhall, Geoff
Knopper, Loren D.
author_facet Berger, Robert G.
Ashtiani, Payam
Ollson, Christopher A.
Whitfield Aslund, Melissa
McCallum, Lindsay C.
Leventhall, Geoff
Knopper, Loren D.
author_sort Berger, Robert G.
collection PubMed
description Setbacks for wind turbines have been established in many jurisdictions to address potential health concerns associated with audible noise. However, in recent years, it has been suggested that infrasound (IS) and low-frequency noise (LFN) could be responsible for the onset of adverse health effects self-reported by some individuals living in proximity to wind turbines, even when audible noise limits are met. The purpose of this paper was to investigate whether current audible noise-based guidelines for wind turbines account for the protection of human health, given the levels of IS and LFN typically produced by wind turbines. New field measurements of indoor IS and outdoor LFN at locations between 400 and 900 m from the nearest turbine, which were previously underrepresented in the scientific literature, are reported and put into context with existing published works. Our analysis showed that indoor IS levels were below auditory threshold levels while LFN levels at distances >500 m were similar to background LFN levels. A clear contribution to LFN due to wind turbine operation (i.e., measured with turbines on in comparison to with turbines off) was noted at a distance of 480 m. However, this corresponded to an increase in overall audible sound measures as reported in dB(A), supporting the hypothesis that controlling audible sound produced by normally operating wind turbines will also control for LFN. Overall, the available data from this and other studies suggest that health-based audible noise wind turbine siting guidelines provide an effective means to evaluate, monitor, and protect potential receptors from audible noise as well as IS and LFN.
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spelling pubmed-43386042015-03-10 Health-Based Audible Noise Guidelines Account for Infrasound and Low-Frequency Noise Produced by Wind Turbines Berger, Robert G. Ashtiani, Payam Ollson, Christopher A. Whitfield Aslund, Melissa McCallum, Lindsay C. Leventhall, Geoff Knopper, Loren D. Front Public Health Public Health Setbacks for wind turbines have been established in many jurisdictions to address potential health concerns associated with audible noise. However, in recent years, it has been suggested that infrasound (IS) and low-frequency noise (LFN) could be responsible for the onset of adverse health effects self-reported by some individuals living in proximity to wind turbines, even when audible noise limits are met. The purpose of this paper was to investigate whether current audible noise-based guidelines for wind turbines account for the protection of human health, given the levels of IS and LFN typically produced by wind turbines. New field measurements of indoor IS and outdoor LFN at locations between 400 and 900 m from the nearest turbine, which were previously underrepresented in the scientific literature, are reported and put into context with existing published works. Our analysis showed that indoor IS levels were below auditory threshold levels while LFN levels at distances >500 m were similar to background LFN levels. A clear contribution to LFN due to wind turbine operation (i.e., measured with turbines on in comparison to with turbines off) was noted at a distance of 480 m. However, this corresponded to an increase in overall audible sound measures as reported in dB(A), supporting the hypothesis that controlling audible sound produced by normally operating wind turbines will also control for LFN. Overall, the available data from this and other studies suggest that health-based audible noise wind turbine siting guidelines provide an effective means to evaluate, monitor, and protect potential receptors from audible noise as well as IS and LFN. Frontiers Media S.A. 2015-02-24 /pmc/articles/PMC4338604/ /pubmed/25759808 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2015.00031 Text en Copyright © 2015 Berger, Ashtiani, Ollson, Whitfield Aslund, McCallum, Leventhall and Knopper. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Berger, Robert G.
Ashtiani, Payam
Ollson, Christopher A.
Whitfield Aslund, Melissa
McCallum, Lindsay C.
Leventhall, Geoff
Knopper, Loren D.
Health-Based Audible Noise Guidelines Account for Infrasound and Low-Frequency Noise Produced by Wind Turbines
title Health-Based Audible Noise Guidelines Account for Infrasound and Low-Frequency Noise Produced by Wind Turbines
title_full Health-Based Audible Noise Guidelines Account for Infrasound and Low-Frequency Noise Produced by Wind Turbines
title_fullStr Health-Based Audible Noise Guidelines Account for Infrasound and Low-Frequency Noise Produced by Wind Turbines
title_full_unstemmed Health-Based Audible Noise Guidelines Account for Infrasound and Low-Frequency Noise Produced by Wind Turbines
title_short Health-Based Audible Noise Guidelines Account for Infrasound and Low-Frequency Noise Produced by Wind Turbines
title_sort health-based audible noise guidelines account for infrasound and low-frequency noise produced by wind turbines
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4338604/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25759808
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2015.00031
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