The alleged effects of wind power turbines on human health have been the subject of recent public debate.

A paper that summarised current scientific knowledge on this issue was delivered by Dr Marion Carey at the Royal Society of Victoria’s symposium on Victoria’s Energy Future in October 2013. The paper has since been published in Volume 126 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, and is reproduced here for the information of interested members of the public.

Since this paper was presented, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia issued a statement in February 2015, part of which states: ‘ After careful consideration and deliberation, NHMRC concludes that there is currently no consistent evidence that wind farms cause adverse health effects in humans. Given the limitations of the existing evidence and continuing concerns expressed by some members of the community, NHMRC considers that further high quality research on the possible health effects of wind farms is required.’

The full NHMRC report can be found at https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/health-topics/wind-farms-and-human-health .