How Much Electrical DC Amperage Can Cause Death?
There are many factors, but currents around 10 to 100 milliamps are certainly dangerous because they can cause involuntary muscular contractions. Currents from 100 to 200 mA are considered the most dangerous because they can directly induce heart flutter known as ventricular fibrillation. Under the skin, through a cut, through a body opening, it can takes less voltage (and current) to hurt someone. An extreme case of this was when someone tried measuring the resistance between his fingers, after inserting pins under the skin. Even though the meter only used a 1.5 volt battery, it had enough current to be lethal. AC is not as lethal as DC. Westinghouse used this fact to pitch AC power distribution over Edison’s DC system.
