Wind power has had its share of problems of late, and now, to top things off, people are claiming they’ve been made sick by the hums and vibrations from nearby wind farms.

The Washington Post dug into this topic recently, citing a report that residents of a Massachusetts town complained of headaches, nausea and insomnia from a wind turbine.

The good news? Whenever public health researchers look into the issue, they find little evidence of “wind turbine syndrome.”

Simon Chapman, a professor of public health at University of Sydney, told the newspaper that reviews of available evidence about wind farms and health show that “wind turbines can annoy a minority of people in their vicinity, but there is no strong evidence that they make people ill.”

Keith Kloor of Discover Magazine surmises that wind turbine syndrome could result from the “nocebo” effect.

That means people who have heard accounts of wind turbines giving others’ headaches and nausea actually start feeling similar symptoms.

Sounds like a case of hot air.


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