Is infrasound from wind turbines dangerous?

Critical reviews of the scientific literature have found no reliable evidence of direct harm to health from wind-turbine infrasound at typical levels; annoyance is more often linked to the audible noise itself and to attitudes toward the installation.

Is it true that 19 Hz is the 'fear frequency'?

This is a popular story based on isolated observations rather than rigorous evidence. Science has not confirmed a universal 'fear frequency'.

Was 'Havana syndrome' an infrasound attack?

The JASON report ruled out, with high confidence, sound exposure at a distance as the cause; the recorded sounds matched the song of a Caribbean cricket.

Infrasound and health: the "fear frequency", wind turbines, Havana

Library → Infrasound and health

A cloud of scare stories has grown up around infrasound: that it supposedly causes panic, illness and even serves as a "sonic weapon". Let's sort it out calmly and by the sources — separating the verified from the invented.

Myth 1. The 19 Hz "fear frequency"

A popular story claims that infrasound around 19 Hz causes groundless terror and "the sense of a ghost". It rests on isolated anecdotal observations (the famous case of an engineer in a "haunted" laboratory) and a couple of small experiments. There is no rigorous, reproducible evidence of a universal "fear frequency". Strong infrasound can be felt by the body, but science has found no "panic button" in it. Peer-reviewed reviews of hearing at low frequencies show something else: infrasound is not an "invisible poison" — the hearing threshold simply rises sharply as frequency drops, and at sufficient loudness a person perceives it in the ordinary way, by ear.5

Myth 2. Wind turbines "poison" with infrasound

This is the most studied topic. Several critical reviews of the peer-reviewed literature conclude: there is no reliable evidence of direct harm to health from wind-turbine infrasound at real-world levels.1 2 The discomfort experienced by some people is real, but it is more strongly linked to audible noise and attitudes toward the installation than to infrasound itself. Controlled experiments show directly that health complaints near wind turbines are best explained by the nocebo (negative-expectation) effect rather than by infrasound itself (Crichton et al., 2014).6

Myth 3. "Havana syndrome" — an infrasound attack

When diplomats in Havana developed ailments, one of the theories was a "sonic weapon". Scientific analysis did not confirm it: the report of the JASON advisory group ruled out, with high confidence, sound exposure (infra-, audible and ultrasound) at a distance as the cause.3 And the mysterious "recordings of the attack" matched, spectrally, the song of a Caribbean cricket.4

What is true

Infrasound is not "death rays" but a natural part of the environment: it is constantly around us (the ocean, the wind, traffic) at safe levels. It is worth studying not out of fear but for benefit — early warning of real threats.

Did you know?

The largest organ pipes (32 and 64 feet) sound at ~16 and ~8 Hz — the congregation does not hear them, but feels a "tremor" in the chest.
The famous "fear frequency" of 19 Hz is linked to the case of an engineer to whom "a ghost appeared": the culprit turned out to be a vibrating fan.
Infrasound is constantly around us — from wind, traffic and the sea — at perfectly safe levels.
The legend of the "ghost frequency" (~18.9 Hz) was started by engineer Vic Tandy (Tandy & Lawrence, 1998), who traced a "haunted" lab to an ordinary vibrating fan; a 2003 concert experiment later showed that infrasound only mildly raises unease in some listeners.

Why this matters for HERD

We use infrasound as a source of information, not of exposure: we listen to the planet in order to warn. Debunking myths is part of an honest conversation with our audience and with scientific sceptics.

Sources for this article

These sources are part of the full HERD library — 272 vetted sources, with meaning search and topic filters.

review van Kamp I., van den Berg F. (2018). Health effects related to wind turbine sound and infrasound. Acoustics Australia 46. springer.com
review McCunney R.J. et al. (2014). Wind turbines and health: a critical review of the scientific literature. JOEM 56(11). journals.lww.com
rebuttalorganization JASON/MITRE (2018). Analysis related to the Embassy Incidents (Havana syndrome). int.nyt.com
peer-reviewedrebuttal Stubbs A.L., Montealegre-Z F. (2019). 'Sonic attacks' in Cuba match a cricket's calling song. bioRxiv. biorxiv.org
peer-reviewedreview Møller H., Pedersen C.S. (2004). Hearing at low and infrasonic frequencies. Noise & Health 6(23). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
peer-reviewed Crichton F. et al. (2014). Health complaints and wind turbines: the nocebo expectations hypothesis. Front. Public Health 2:220. doi.org
history Tandy V., Lawrence T.R. (1998). The ghost in the machine. J. Soc. Psychical Research 62. richardwiseman.com
review Salt A.N., Hullar T.E. (2010). Responses of the ear to low frequency sounds, infrasound and wind turbines. Hearing Research 268(1-2), 12-21. doi.org
peer-reviewed Salt A.N., Kaltenbach J.A. (2011). Infrasound from wind turbines could affect humans. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 31(4), 296-302. doi.org
review Leventhall G. (2007). What is infrasound?. Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology 93(1-3), 130-137. doi.org
review Berglund B., Hassmén P., Job R.F.S. (1996). Sources and effects of low-frequency noise. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 99(5), 2985-3002. doi.org
review Schmidt J.H., Klokker M. (2014). Health effects related to wind turbine noise exposure: a systematic review. PLoS ONE 9(12), e114183. doi.org
review Knopper L.D., Ollson C.A. (2011). Health effects and wind turbines: a review of the literature. Environmental Health 10, 78. doi.org
peer-reviewed Michaud D.S., Feder K., Keith S.E., Voicescu S.A., Marro L., Than J., Guay M., et al. (2016). Exposure to wind turbine noise: perceptual responses and reported health effects. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 139(3), 1443-1454. doi.org
organization World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe (2018). Environmental noise guidelines for the European Region. WHO Regional Office for Europe (who.int). who.int