safe current and voltage limit for human body

Thread Starter

Snowfish

Joined May 11, 2017
42
Hi

I made a supply of 16V with AA batteries.
1)I would like to know if it's safe to touch the naked edges of the wires near the batteries after I plug this in a device ?
2) What is the limit safe current and voltage that I can touch in DC?

Thank you
 

AlbertHall

Joined Jun 4, 2014
12,343
Below 50V is generally considered safe.
But it is the current which kills. The voltage is needed to drive current through the body.
 

recklessrog

Joined May 23, 2013
985
It is probably true that under 50volts is safe, depends on how conductive your skin is at the time, and whether the current can flow through your heart or brain. I guess that may not be a problem for some of the population as many appear not to have a brain judging by the things I see posted on youtube! But there are documented cases of people who have died after testing a 9 Volt battery on their tongue!! Guess there are always exceptions to the general rule.
 
But there are documented cases of people who have died after testing a 9 Volt battery on their tongue!!
Don't you? I actually did it when I was a kid.

Look up GFCI. Like a lot of things, there is not always a simple answer. 25 V AC/DC is a good number, but remember with DC-DC converters nearly anything possible.
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,976
It is probably true that under 50volts is safe, depends on how conductive your skin is at the time, and whether the current can flow through your heart or brain. I guess that may not be a problem for some of the population as many appear not to have a brain judging by the things I see posted on youtube! But there are documented cases of people who have died after testing a 9 Volt battery on their tongue!! Guess there are always exceptions to the general rule.
I'd like to see a few of these documented cases.

Were they electrocuted? Or did they fall of the tightrope they were walking on when they jerked their head up?

A 9 V battery definitely has the ability to push a lethal current through the heart and other sensitive paths, if you get past the skin resistance. But I have a real hard time believing that the current flowing through about a half inch of the surface of your tongue is going to put enough current through a sensitive path.
 

recklessrog

Joined May 23, 2013
985
I'd like to see a few of these documented cases.

Were they electrocuted? Or did they fall of the tightrope they were walking on when they jerked their head up?

A 9 V battery definitely has the ability to push a lethal current through the heart and other sensitive paths, if you get past the skin resistance. But I have a real hard time believing that the current flowing through about a half inch of the surface of your tongue is going to put enough current through a sensitive path.
That info came from a a medical program called "a thousand ways to die" From what I remember, one of the people who did it had some sort of brain seizure, went into a coma and eventually died.
 
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