Industrial wind turbines and adverse health effects: Where we are, where we need to go, and the need for regulations and predictive models to recognize human physiology

Since our initial study was published (Nissenbaum et al., 2012), work in several areas of human physiology has begun to elucidate the precise mechanisms by which sleep disturbances result in adverse health effects, over both short and longer durations. These include impaired neuronal connections in the learning brain, altered genetic expressions impacting the immune system, and correlations between poor quality sleep and MRI-measured atrophy of the brain over a mean period of 3.5 years. Additionally, fMRI has demonstrated brain responses to sounds with frequencies as low as 8 Hz. At lower frequencies, somatosensory mechanisms are now thought to play a role, in addition to auditory. Local regulations regarding noise (Soundscape) limits and methods of measurement were designed prior to current understandings of human sensory and reactive physiology. Instrumentation and modeling geared towards satisfying those regulations are by implication lacking because they do not capture or predict physiological responses to IWT noise. According to the principles of soundscape, and given the subtleties of human physiology, humans remain the best instruments available for detecting objectionable noise and identifying adverse health effects. Regulations, measurement methods, and predictive models must adapt to current understandings of human physiology to best protect human populations.