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Noise from wind turbines linked to increased use of sleeping pills, Danish study finds

A Danish study has found that people over 65 years of age are more likely to take certain types of medicine if they live close to wind turbines.

Published: 14 March 2019 14:03 CET
Noise from wind turbines linked to increased use of sleeping pills, Danish study finds
Photo: Bax Lindhardt/Ritzau Scanpix

People over the age of 65 who live close enough to wind turbines to hear a significant level of noise are more likely to be use prescriptions for anti-depressive or sleeping medication, the research found.

The study was conducted by the Danish Cancer Society (Kræftens Bekæmpelse) and was financed by three government ministries – the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Environment and Food and the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate.

Six different conclusions relating to the effects of wind turbines on health were made as a result of the research.

One of those conclusions is a clear link between medicine use and noise levels from wind turbines, said Aslak Harbo Poulsen, a researcher with 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.

Henrik Winther, director of the Danish Wind Energy Association (Danmarks Vindmølleforening), accepted the findings of the research.

“It is positive that this long-term and thorough research has now reached a conclusion. The public, local politicians and the wind energy sector have waited a long time for it, and the overall picture from the study is that there is no clear connection,” Winther said in a press statement.

“The study as a whole has thereby fulfilled its political purpose: to provide more knowledge, which can help to ease the concerns some may have had,” he added.

The most comprehensive study of its kind in Denmark, the newly-published research was commenced in 2014.

READ ALSO: Denmark reserves waters for construction of wind power farms

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HEALTH

Danish parties agree to raise abortion limit to 18 weeks

Denmark's government has struck a deal with four other parties to raise the point in a pregnancy from which a foetus can be aborted from 12 weeks to 18 weeks, in the first big change to Danish abortion law in 50 years.

Published: 3 May 2024 08:06 CEST
Danish parties agree to raise abortion limit to 18 weeks

The government struck the deal with the Socialist Left Party, the Red Green Alliance, the Social Liberal Party and the Alternative party, last week with the formal announcement made on Monday  

“In terms of health, there is no evidence for the current week limit, nor is there anything to suggest that there will be significantly more or later abortions by moving the week limit,” Sophie Løhde, Denmark’s Minister of the Interior and Health, said in a press release announcing the deal.

The move follows the recommendations of Denmark’s Ethics Council, which in September 2023 proposed raising the term limit, pointing out that Denmark had one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Western Europe. 

READ ALSO: 

Under the deal, the seven parties, together with the Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives, have also entered into an agreement to replace the five regional abortion bodies with a new national abortion board, which will be based in Aarhus. 

From July 1st, 2025, this new board will be able to grant permission for abortions after the 18th week of pregnancy if there are special considerations to take into account. 

The parties have also agreed to grant 15-17-year-olds the right to have an abortion without parental consent or permission from the abortion board.

Marie Bjerre, Denmark’s minister for Digitalization and Equality, said in the press release that this followed logically from the age of sexual consent, which is 15 years old in Denmark. 

“Choosing whether to have an abortion is a difficult situation, and I hope that young women would get the support of their parents. But if there is disagreement, it must ultimately be the young woman’s own decision whether she wants to be a mother,” she said. 

The bill will be tabled in parliament over the coming year with the changes then coming into force on June 1st, 2025.

The right to free abortion was introduced in Denmark in 1973. 

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