Is infrasound from wind turbines harmful to your health? There is no evidence for this (imago / Klaus W. Schmidt)
According to current research, infrasound from wind turbines does not cause illness. But claims have been circulating for years that these systems are harmful to health.
For weeks now, wind turbine opponents have been circulating on social media a new study that purports to show a link to heart disease. However, the method underlying it has significant drawbacks. What do other studies say?
Infrasound cannot be heard by humans. It occurs in nature, for example, due to wind, sea waves and river currents, as well as due to technical devices. According to Christian Fabris from the Federal Environmental Agency (UBA), the most important source in Germany is road traffic – road, rail and air.
But heart surgeon Christian-Friedrich Wahl and co-author Oliver Dietz see evidence of the effects of infrasound from wind turbines on heart health in their assessment, which they presented at a medical conference in April. To do this, they compared data from four communities in the Paderborn region. Two of them are equipped with many wind turbines, two with just a few. According to the authors, more new heart diseases occur in those who own many wind turbines.
However, the work was published only as a poster at a specialized conference; Unlike a special article, the method is not verified by independent experts.
Stefan Holgeu of the University of Bayreuth says the alleged connection is absurd. In a car, you are exposed to infrasound a thousand times stronger than near a wind turbine, without any health consequences. In his opinion, opening something at such weak levels would be “absurd.”
UBA’s Christian Fabris misses important factors that influence valuation. How much does road traffic affect air quality? How much tire wear is there? The study must take into account such disruptive factors.
The assessment itself did not examine people or measure infrasound. Figures provided by the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians of Westphalia-Lippe. This makes it clear that their data cannot provide any information about new cases, since it also includes people who have already had the disease. The data set is fundamentally unsuitable for the question under study.
A long-term study published in May 2026 in the journal PNAS and conducted by the University of Augsburg linked information from more than 120,000 US households from 2011 to 2023 with data on the location of wind turbines, as well as data on the purchase of sleeping pills and painkillers.
The researchers compared the same households before and after the construction of nearby wind turbines. Sleep disturbances, depression, anxiety and headaches were examined. They found no significant effects for the households surveyed. The authors write that small effects cannot be ruled out, but medium and large ones can.
A 2025 Dutch study came to a similar result. It assessed GP diagnoses and prescriptions over ten years annually for 350,000–560,000 people living within a five-kilometre radius of wind turbines. No reliable relationship was found between proximity to the facility and the frequency of complaints. A summary prepared on behalf of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency in 2024 also concluded that there was no evidence of health harm caused by infrasound – regardless of source – beyond noise pollution and reported sleep disturbances.
Greater health risks arise if you don’t switch to renewable energy sources, says Christian Fabris from UBA. If fossil fuels continue to be burned, climate change will progress and heat waves will increase. The expansion of wind power serves to prevent this.
The most significant impact of wind turbines is noise pollution in the immediate vicinity of the turbines. This is not due to infrasound, but due to audible sound.
How severe it is perceived depends on more than just the level: Measurable noise pollution explains only up to a quarter of the feeling of annoyance, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Visibility of systems and personal attitudes towards them also play a role.
In one experiment, subjects developed symptoms as soon as they expected the negative effects of infrasound. This occurred regardless of whether they were actually exposed to infrasound. Experts call this the “nocebo effect.” The complaints are real, but their supposed cause is not.
Therefore, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency also recommends that residents be involved in the planning and approval process early on, so that the construction phase is as stress-free as possible and that they are not left alone with their problems. Whether local residents benefit financially from these systems also plays a role, UBA said.
Radio broadcast: Anya Lordic / Online text: Elena Matera