Wind turbines are NOT making you sick, report claims
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Sickness caused by wind turbines is not a real illness, a controversial new report has claimed.
Instead, symptoms such as nausea, dizziness and migraines are simply imagined by those living nearby, say US scientists.
Compiled by the Energy and Policy Institute in Washington DC, the report says ill-health blamed on turbines is merely the result of the 'nocebo' effect.
A report has found that claims of sickness being caused by wind turbines (stock image shown) are not being upheld by courts around the world. The study carried out by the Energy and Policy Institute in Washington DC found that evidence was not strong enough to support the claims
This is a term for something that creates a negative reaction in a person, despite there actually being nothing to affect their health or well-being.
As it's name suggests it is the opposite of a placebo.
Experiments relating to the nocebo effect in the past have found that people will perceive themselves to be sick if they are told that something could have an adverse effect on them.
For example, a German scientist once gathered a group of volunteers and asked half to watch a video on the 'dangers' of Wi-Fi.
When both groups were then seated near a fake Wi-Fi amplifier they believed to be real, only the group that had watched the video reported any adverse effects.
The new US report reveals how court cases against wind turbines in five Western countries have been regularly dismissed.
In 49 cases brought to court in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the UK, 48 were dismissed as having no basis to their claims.
And the only winning case, in Falmouth, Massachusetts, related to noise caused early in a turbine's operation that apparently caused grievance to some nearby residents.
'These claims about wind turbines causing health impacts are not being upheld, which means there isn't sufficient evidence to prove that wind turbines cause any problems with human health,' said Gabe Elsner, the nonprofit's executive director, according to Climate Central.
'That's a big deal, because claims about that are used across the globe by anti-wind advocates to try to slow the development of wind farms.'
And the paper adds: 'The courts have spoken. Wind farms do not cause health problems.'
The belief that wind turbines can cause sickness, known as 'wind turbine syndrome', was made popular in 2009 by American paediatrician Dr Nina Pierpont.
But Jennifer Webber, RenewableUK's Director of External Affairs, told MailOnline: 'Dozens of independent, peer-reviewed scientific studies carried out both here in the UK and around the world have consistently proved that there's absolutely no credible evidence that wind turbines have any adverse effect on anyone's health.'
However, despite these claims MPs in the UK are warning homeowners that a nearby wind farm could cut the value of their houses by up to a third.
Angela Kelly, the chairwoman of the anti-wind farm campaign group Country Guardian, says she has seen the value of a number of properties slashed thanks to the presence of a nearby turbine.
Some people have reported having 'wind turbine syndrome', an alleged disorder where people who live near turbines suffer from symptoms like tinnitus and migraines. However it is not recognised as a medical condition by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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