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There is no single exact “lethal amperage,” but for ordinary 50/60 Hz AC shocks through the chest, currents of roughly 50–100 mA — that is 0.05–0.1 A — can be lethal. Around 100 mA through the body/chest is a commonly cited ventricular-fibrillation danger threshold. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
Key point: milliamps, not amps, can kill. A current far below 1 amp can be fatal if it passes through the heart for long enough.
For 50/60 Hz AC, typical physiological effects are approximately:
| Current through body | Approximate effect |
|---|---|
| ~1 mA | Barely perceptible tingling |
| ~5 mA | Noticeable shock; near personnel-protection GFCI trip level |
| ~10–20 mA | “Let-go” range: muscle contraction may prevent releasing the conductor |
| ~20–30 mA | Respiratory muscle paralysis becomes possible |
| ~50–100 mA | Ventricular fibrillation risk if current crosses the chest |
| ~100 mA and above | Potentially fatal; fibrillation likely depending on path and duration |
| ~1–2 A and above | Severe burns, cardiac standstill, internal injury |
NIOSH-derived safety data summarized in a medical review lists about 16 mA as the average male “let-go” current, 20 mA as enough to paralyze respiratory muscles, 100 mA as a ventricular-fibrillation threshold, and 2 A as associated with cardiac standstill and internal organ damage. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) Merck also notes that low-voltage 60 Hz AC through the chest can cause ventricular fibrillation at approximately 60–100 mA, while DC generally requires higher current, around 300–500 mA, for comparable fibrillation risk. (merckmanuals.com)
The most dangerous case is not “current anywhere in the body,” but current through the heart, such as:
A localized shock, for example between two fingers on the same hand, may cause pain or burns but is less likely to trigger fatal heart rhythm disturbance than the same current passing through the chest.
The phrase “current kills, not voltage” is incomplete. More accurately:
Current through vital organs causes the injury, but voltage is what drives that current through body resistance.
Using Ohm’s law:
\[ I = \frac{V}{R} \]
If a person contacts 120 V AC with wet skin and the effective body resistance is about 1,000 Ω:
\[ I = \frac{120\ \text{V}}{1000\ \Omega} = 0.12\ \text{A} = 120\ \text{mA} \]
That is well into the potentially lethal range. Dry skin may have much higher resistance, but wet, sweaty, damaged, or punctured skin can reduce resistance dramatically.
For ordinary external electric shock:
If someone has received an electric shock, especially through the chest, from mains voltage, while wet, or with symptoms such as chest pain, palpitations, burns, confusion, weakness, loss of consciousness, or difficulty breathing, they should seek emergency medical evaluation immediately. Cardiac rhythm problems can occur even when the external injury looks minor.
For typical mains-frequency AC, about 0.05–0.1 A through the chest can be fatal, and 0.1 A is a widely used danger threshold. The actual risk depends strongly on current path, duration, frequency, skin condition, voltage, and source capability. In electrical safety practice, even tens of milliamps must be treated as dangerous.
