Evidence Stated
Ursula Maria Bellut-Staec
Ursula Maria Bellut-Staec (published June 16, 2025)
A fundamental basis for all living creatures, mechanotransduction, is significantly endangered by periodic exposure to impulsive infrasound and vibration from technical emitters - in particular cardiovascular and embryological function.
AI Conclusion:
The article establishes mechanotransduction as a critical process for life, highly susceptible to disruption by impulsive infrasound and vibrations from technical sources like IWTs. These disruptions lead to significant health risks in humans, including cardiovascular diseases, embryological defects, and neurological disorders, and threaten animals, plants, and ecosystems through similar mechanisms. The evidence underscores the need for immediate policy actions to mitigate infrasound exposure and protect biodiversity, emphasizing that the effects are independent of conscious perception and require new measurement and regulatory approaches.
Excerpts from the Summary:
Depending on the individual's ability to compensate, exposure to a chronic stressor such as impulsive and periodic infrasound must lead to an exhaustion which manifests first infunctional disorders of the substrate and oxygen supply, later on in an increasing loss of endothelial functions. New knowledge in a clinical context can contribute to behavioural changes e.g., awareness of high sensitivity to external forces, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy during vasculogenesis where a random event can have significant effects according to the stochastic principle. Another example is the risk of a work place with vibrations and low frequencies that could aggravate cardiovascular diseases. Recent studies indicate that humans, animals and plants within a radius of at least 10 kilometers can be harmed by far reaching emissions through IWT techniques.
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Mechanotransduction is the common basis for all organisms for converting physical forces into biochemical and biological information. Ongoing PIEZO channel research confirms PIEZ0-I and II channels in numerous other tissues including outside the endothelium. The prerequisite for a inflammatory transformation of the endothelium is chronic oxidative and oscillatory stress, as vital regulatory processes depend on an uninterrupted laminar flow in the capillary system and the integrity of the endothelium. Vascular health, in turn, is closely linked to demand-driven NO bioavailability and its homeostasis.
The latest findings on a growing environmental factor show clear signs of an incompatibility between chronic and impulsive low frequencies and a fundamental information pathway of all organisms. The potentially serious consequences of an interaction, e.g., loss of endothelial integrity, increased blood pressure and tissue remodelling of the heart, reduced fertility, stranding`s and death of whales, decline in animal species and insects and reduction in plant biomass, have a common basis, which is discussed in this article: mechanotransduction. A force that is not demand-oriented can lead to irregular information.
There is an urgent need to reassess the far-reaching effects and consequences of infrasound and vibrations from technical installations such as biogas plants, heat pumps and in particular, large (250 m+) industrial wind turbines (IWT). ‘If you want to discover the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequencies and vibrations’ (quote from Tesla). Mechanotransduction is a common basis for all life and must be preserved. -
Ursula Maria Bellut-Staec. A fundamental basis for all living creatures, mechanotransduction, is significantly endangered by periodic exposure to impulsive infrasound and vibration from technical emitters - in particular cardiovascular and embryological function. Volume 10, Issue 2, April 2025 | PP. 28-70 | PDF (2858 K) | Pub. Date: June 16, 2025. DOI: 10.54647/cm321372
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This is an AI Summary:
Summary of "A Fundamental Basis for All Living Creatures, Mechanotransduction, is Significantly Endangered by Periodic Exposure to Impulsive Infrasound and Vibration from Technical Emitters - In Particular Cardiovascular and Embryological Functions"
The article by Ursula Maria Bellut-Staeck, published in the SCIREA Journal of Clinical Medicine (April 2025), explores the critical role of mechanotransduction—the process by which living organisms convert mechanical forces into biochemical and biological signals—and the detrimental effects of chronic exposure to impulsive infrasound and vibrations from technical installations, such as industrial wind turbines (IWTs), on human and ecological health. Mechanotransduction is fundamental to all life, regulating vital processes like cardiovascular function, embryogenesis, and cellular homeostasis across mammals, plants, and other organisms.
Key Points and Relevance to Human and Ecological Health
Mechanotransduction and Its Importance:
Mechanotransduction is a universal mechanism enabling organisms to sense and respond to mechanical stimuli (e.g., shear stress, vibration) through structures like PIEZO ion channels, which are found in tissues like the endothelium, nervous system, and plants.
It underpins critical physiological processes, including vascular regulation, embryonic development, and cellular communication, making it essential for maintaining structure, function, and homeostasis in all living things.
Impact of Infrasound and Vibrations:
Infrasound (frequencies below 20 Hz) and vibrations from sources like IWTs, biogas plants, and heat pumps are identified as significant environmental stressors. These low-frequency emissions, particularly impulsive ones, disrupt mechanotransduction by transmitting irregular signals to mechanosensors like PIEZO channels.
The article highlights that infrasound from IWTs, with frequencies as low as 0.2–8 Hz, overlaps with natural biological rhythms (e.g., 6–12 Hz in humans), potentially causing resonance effects that destabilize cellular and systemic functions.
Effects on Human Health:
Cardiovascular System: Chronic infrasound exposure disrupts endothelial integrity by inducing oxidative and oscillatory stress, leading to inadequate nitric oxide (NO) release. This can result in increased blood pressure, cardiac fibrosis, arrhythmias, and heightened risks of atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, and stroke. Studies cited show increased coronary perivascular fibrosis and reduced myocardial contractility in rats exposed to infrasound.
Embryogenesis: Mechanical disturbances during pregnancy, particularly during vasculogenesis, can impair embryonic development. A case study on foals near IWTs showed increased flexural deformities and tissue abnormalities, suggesting similar risks for human fetuses.
Neurological Effects: Infrasound may disrupt neural development and function, as PIEZO channels are highly expressed in the central nervous system. Overstimulation can lead to increased calcium influx, promoting inflammation and potentially contributing to conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.
Other Systems: Infrasound affects the gastrointestinal tract, lungs, and urinary tract, where PIEZO channels regulate functions like serotonin production and pressure sensing. Overstimulation can lead to chronic inflammation and tissue damage.
Effects on All Living Things:
Animals: Infrasound exposure is linked to stress responses, reduced fertility, and developmental issues in animals. For example, a Swedish study reported 100% egg mortality in a chicken farm near IWTs. Seabird populations (e.g., loons, kittiwakes) have declined significantly within 10 km of offshore wind farms, and whale strandings may be related to hydroacoustic disturbances from infrasound.
Plants: Plants rely on mechanotransduction for growth and stress responses. A large-scale study of 108,361 IWTs in China showed significant reductions in plant biomass production within a 10 km radius, particularly affecting vegetation indices like EVI, with peak impacts at 2 km. This suggests infrasound disrupts plant growth and contributes to biodiversity loss.
Insects and Pollinators: The article posits that insects, including bees, may be affected by infrasound, potentially contributing to population declines and threatening pollination, a critical ecological process.
Mechanisms of Harm:
Infrasound’s low frequency and long wavelength allow it to penetrate tissues and structures with minimal attenuation, affecting mechanosensors like the glycocalyx and PIEZO channels. This leads to excessive calcium influx, increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), and inflammation, disrupting endothelial functions and triggering a cascade of adverse effects.
Impulsive infrasound signals are particularly harmful, as they are more likely to elicit strong cellular responses compared to uniform signals, according to studies on cytoskeletal force transmission.
Environmental and Policy Implications:
The article emphasizes the far-reaching impact of infrasound from IWTs, which can affect ecosystems within at least a 10 km radius. Marine environments are particularly vulnerable due to the efficient propagation of infrasound in water, threatening marine life like whales.
The author calls for urgent reassessment of low-frequency emissions from technical installations, advocating for preventive measures to protect sensitive groups (e.g., pregnant women, developing organisms) and biodiversity. Current measurement standards (e.g., dBA, dBC) are inadequate for assessing infrasound, necessitating unweighted dBZ measurements.
Proposed Research:
The article suggests further studies to verify the effects of infrasound on mechanotransduction, determine threshold frequencies for harm, assess resonance effects, and evaluate long-term histopathological and inflammatory outcomes in mammals.
Conclusion
The article establishes mechanotransduction as a critical process for life, highly susceptible to disruption by impulsive infrasound and vibrations from technical sources like IWTs. These disruptions lead to significant health risks in humans, including cardiovascular diseases, embryological defects, and neurological disorders, and threaten animals, plants, and ecosystems through similar mechanisms. The evidence underscores the need for immediate policy actions to mitigate infrasound exposure and protect biodiversity, emphasizing that the effects are independent of conscious perception and require new measurement and regulatory approaches.
This summary highlights the article’s findings on how infrasound endangers mechanotransduction, with profound implications for human health and the broader biosphere.
Ursula Maria Bellut-Staec (published June 2023)
Impairment of the Endothelium and Disorder of Microcirculation in Humans and Animals Exposed to Infrasound due to Irregular Mechano-Transduction
Excerpts from the Summary:
With the crucial basics of mechano-transduction, there is now a strong evidence with obvious indicators for a possible interaction of infrasound, especially with deep frequencies and impulsive character, as have, e.g., IWT’s or heat pumps. The elucidation for the strong dependency on mechano-transduction from the frequency of “Noise” and the identification of actin filaments and microtubules as “low-pass filters”, support our hypothesis. In this way, the propagation of sound wave in the viscoelastic organism could become a decodable information. Regeneration, as would occur with a one-time or infrequent exposure, could not take place with chronic impact. Initially functional disturbances of the orchestrated vasomotor system, respectively of sensible vasomotion, can be expected, with longer exposure fixed anatomically recognisable pathological damages in endothelial integrity. Important in this context are the structural changes that tend to be self-reinforcing, as described in the example of remodelling of the heart. By probably elucidating the pathophysiological pathway of how infrasound/IFLN could lead to the main health disorders, it will be possible to make steps forward in defining safe distances for living or working with emitting technical installations. Many scientific questions remain to be answered, but there is sufficient evidence to suggest that, as precautionary measurements, further technologies, involving very low frequencies and/or impulsive emissions with potential impact on living organisms, should be limited or better avoided until all issues are scientifically resolved. The possible effects on insects, which have not been clarified yet, could be of great importance, e.g., for the biodiversity and for co-affection of pollinators and thus nutrition.
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The microcirculation of mammals is an autoregulated and complex synchronised system according to the current demand for nutrients and oxygen. The undisturbed course of vital functions such as of growth, blood pressure regulation, inflammatory sequence and embryogenesis is bound to endothelial integrity. The sensible vasomotion is particularly dependent on it. Mechano-transduction signalling networks play a critical role in vital cellular processes and are the decisive physiological mechanism for an adequate NO-release, main responsible for the autoregulation of vessels. Disturbed endothelial integrity, originating, e.g., from chronic oxidative stress and/or mechanic (oscillatory) stress, leads to disturbance of vasomotion as well as a disequilibrium of redox systems, recognized as main cause for the development of chronic inflammation diseases such as atherosclerosis and corresponding secondary illnesses, possibly cancer. The endothelial cytoskeleton, which corresponds to a viscoelastic “tensegrity model”, offers the possibility for mechano-transduction via its special construction. The rapidly growing knowledge about mechanical forces in cellular sensing and regulation of the last years (that culminated in the Nobel Prize award for the decoding of pressure/vibration sensing ion channels), led us to the following hypothesis: The extern stressor “Noise” produces under certain conditions an oscillatory stress field in the physiologically laminar flow bed of capillaries, which is able to lead to irregular mechano-transductions. Findings provide a strict dependence on frequency in mechano-transduction with determination of thresholds for a 1:1 transmission. The knowledge, recently gained on endothelial mechano-transduction, sheds a new light on the importance of low frequencies. This could indicate the long-sought pathophysiological way in which infrasound can exert a stressor effect at the cellular level. Noise-exposed citizens, who live near infrastructures such as a biogas installation, heat pumps, block-type thermal power stations and bigger industrial wind turbines (IWT’s), show worldwide mainly a symptomatology associated with microcirculatory disorder. Conceivable are also effects on insects or fishes, since the piezo-channels are recognised as conserved structures of all multicellular organism. An experimental design is proposed to demonstrate the direct pathological influence of infrasound of defined strength, frequency, effect/time profile and duration on the sensitive vasomotion.
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Bellut-Staeck, U. (2023) Impairment of the Endothelium and Disorder of Microcirculation in Humans and Animals Exposed to Infrasound due to Irregular Mechano-Transduction. Journal of Biosciences and Medicines, 11, 30-56. doi: 10.4236/jbm.2023.116003.