July 10, 2009

Study to determine health effects of wind turbines?

From the The Globe & Mail (Toronto, Ontario), July 8:
Researchers at nearby [to Wolfe Island] Queen's University have embarked on the first study to probe whether wind turbines built over communities can cause adverse health effects. The study measures residents' health and well-being before the turbines arrived on the island, again when the turbines were built but not yet operational and again after they'd been operating for a few months.

People living close to turbines in other regions have reported nausea, headaches, dizziness, anxiety, sleep deprivation and tinnitus - an incessant ringing in a person's ears.

However, there has yet to be any substantive research linking those ailments to the presence of windmills, says lead study author Neal Michelutti, a research scientist in the Queen's University biology department.
Dr. Michelutti, as he is later referred to in the article, is not a medical doctor. He is, according the university web site, a PhD specialized in paleolimnology (the study of ancient lakes) of Arctic regions.

This is a strange choice to lead an epidemiologic (the study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations) field study.