Health Resources & Testimony
This section contains a variety of information about the known health effects of noise, and the consequences of exposure to environmental noise. It also includes access to the work of some of the health practitioners and researchers who have provided expert evidence, testimony or opinions in either formal court proceedings, planning tribunals, senate inquiries or other official proceedings, with links to statements or research and further information available tagged with their name in the Resources section.
The authors are listed alphabetically in each subsection. The list is not exhaustive, but should give lawyers unfamiliar with the issues plenty of background information. Additional resources are listed at the end, downloadable from the Resources section.
We welcome contributions of new and old material.
Read the general summary
For a relatively up to date, general summary of the existing knowledge with direct links to the relevant literature, please read the Waubra Foundation CEO’s statement of evidence in the Cherry Tree case in Victoria, Australia. This statement does not include information after February / March 2013, including the discovery of the US research from the 1980s by Neil Kelley and co-researchers. Given its importance, the links to that US research are also included below.
Useful government or World Health Organisation (WHO) Reports (by date)
- 1999 WHO Guidelines for Community Noise
- 2004 Australian EnHealth Committee report “The health effects of environmental noise – other than hearing loss“
- 2009 WHO Night Noise Guidelines for Europe
- 2011 WHO Burden of Disease from Environmental Noise
US Research from 1980s (acoustic impact research)
- 1982 Harvey Hubbard, Noise perception inside homes
- 1985 Neil Kelley et al, the extensive US government funded field research on the single downwind turbine
- 1987 Neil Kelley et al, the subsequent laboratory research, confirming the effects
Effect of wind turbine noise on residents in rural communities
- Dr Amanda Harry, UK
- Dr David Iser, Australia
- Dr Roy Jefferies, Canada
- Carmen Krogh, Canada
- Dr David Lawrence, USA
- Dr Robert McMurtry, Canada
- Dr Nina Pierpont, USA
- Dr Sandy Reider, USA
- Mr Peter Trask, Australia
Epidemiological evidence
Effect of Noise on Children’s health, wellbeing and Learning
Effect of noise on Sleep
- Dr Chris Hanning, UK Sleep Physician
- Dr Wayne Spring, Ballarat Sleep Physician
Effect of noise including wind turbine noise on sleep, mental health and quality of life
- Dr Michael Nissenbaum, Medical Practitioner, Maine, USA
- Dr Daniel Shepherd, Psychologist and Psychoacoustician, New Zealand
- Dr Bob Thorne, Psychoacoustician, New Zealand and Australia
Physiology of the Inner ear and its response to infrasound and low frequency noise
Critiques of the Nocebo “research” by Chapman & Crichton
- Professor Ray Hartman
- Professor Robert McMurtry
- Professor Jerry Punch
- Dr Malcolm Swinbanks
- Dr Michael Nissenbaum’s letter to the Federal Senate inquiry