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Denmark: Noise from wind turbines linked to increased use of sleeping pills

Denmark: Noise from wind turbines linked to increased use of sleeping pills

The wind turbines are useful for the energy sector but they make too much noise for people over 65 years of age if they live close to wind turbines. The noise cause sleep’s disorders and even insomnia, that makes people use sleeping peels.

A study conducted by the Danish Cancer Society (DCS) showed the link between noise from the wind turbines and increasing use of sleeping peels by people who live not too far from turbines. The study was financed by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Environment and Food and the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate. Danish government intends to provide more knowledge, which can help to ease the concerns some may have had regarding the wind turbines.

People over the age of 65 who live close enough to wind turbines to hear a significant level of noise are more likely to use prescriptions for anti-depressive or sleeping medication, the researchers said. Additionally, six different conclusions relating to the effects of wind turbines on health were made as a result of the recent research.

A link between medicine use and noise levels from wind turbines is clear and evident, according to Aslak Harbo Poulsen, a scientist from the Danish Cancer Society.

“Our studies have found that there is, certainly amongst older people, a link between wind turbine noise that can be measured outdoors and the likelihood of using a prescription for medicine to treat depression or difficulty sleeping,” Poulsen said.

Participants in the study over the age of 65 and with night-time exposure to over 42 decibels of noise were the specific category found to be affected. People under the age of 65 did not show the same trend.

Other elements of the study found no conclusive evidence of a connection between long or short-term exposure to wind turbine noise and embolisms in the heart or strokes. Neither was any link found between long-term exposure to wind turbine noise and late-onset diabetes.

The scientists say that DCS’s research is the most comprehensive study of its kind in Denmark, the newly-published research was commenced in 2014.