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Thread: What is a lethal current?
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24th June 2009, 02:20 AM #1
What is a lethal current?
Just out of interest & since some people seem to have some strange ideas about how much electrical current is lethal, I post the following:
Below is the site of Michigan State University.
http://www.pa.msu.edu/sciencet/ask_st/010892.html
Quote:
Currents of less than 0.02 amp may produce sensations ranging from tingling to sharp pain. A more serious effect occurs if the current causes muscles to contract. A person touching a live wire with their outstretched hand may literally not be able to let go of the wire due to the current's effect on the muscles. Experienced electricians who must sometimes deal with wires which may be live always use the backs of their hands to move the wires; if a current were present, the contacting muscles would cause the hand to pull away from the wire. Currents from 0.03 to 0.07 amp will begin to impair the ability of the person to breathe.
The most dangerous range of currents is from 0.1 to about 0.2 amp. Currents in this range can cause death by initiating fibrillation (uncontrollable twitching) of the heart, which stops the regular flow of blood to the rest of the body. Currents much larger than 0.1 amp do NOT result in fibrillation and instead stop the heart completely. If the duration of the current is short, the heart will usually start to beat by itself after the current is removed.
Some other info that is of interest.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu...ric/shock.html
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/cons...eccurrent.html
For those who believe that microamps can kill you, read the following attachment. Pay particular attention to this paragraph, "Currents as small as 10 μA (10 x 10-6A) may cause fibrillation if delivered directly to the heart."
Attached Filessafety.pdf (276.8 KB)
Read the full thread at RenovateForum.com...
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