Low level electrical exposure

[fallettap]

I was using a multimeter and had the red lead attached to a hot AC 110V/15A circuit.
Unknowingly (I was distracted) I was touching the metal prong of the black lead for up to a minute and was not feeling anything . When I realized this I checked the meter and it was measuring 3 volts. I am concerned about all the electricity that was going in my body for all that time. Was it 3 volts or 110 going through me to ground. What in everyday life exposes you to this so I can put this in perspective. Are most swimming pools sending minor AC current through yourself to ground which you probably dont feel, if so I have exposed my self many times before unknowingly and probably do not need to worry. Also in regards to ELF/EMF fields are minor currents going through your body to ground? If so with both the swimming pools and ELF/EMF roughly how much current in mila or micro amps is passing through you and for how long?

 

[realolman]

Nobody with any sense would respond to this, so I'll give it a shot.

If you didn't feel it, you shouldn't worry about it.

If it was a digital multimeter the impedance was very high, and there was very little current flow through you. Still, I wouldn't make this practice a habit.

 

[barbeer]

This isn't a real thread is it!? Am I on T.V.?

 

[barbeer]

Should I be concerned with my past high level electric exposure? Maybe thats where all the gray came from!

 

[fallettap]

The impedance on the meter was 1 million Ohms. It was still electricity flowing through me for a long time. I am still concerned. As I asked in my original post is this the same as situation as some swimming pools and ELF/EMF exposure?

 

[mattsilkwood]

i usually dont wory too much untill my hair starts smoking.:grin:
believe me all the 277 thats ran through me i wouldnt worry.

also unless your grounded you wont feel any more than a slight tingle at the very most.

 

[davidr43229]

Just like Barbeer, I read this and choose not to respond after 12 viewings.
Are we on TV, should we smile? :grin:

 

[charlie b]

OK people. I, at least, read this as being a legitimate question and an expression of a genuine concern. Fallettap, please do not be offended by the attempts of other members to make light of your question.

First of all, I believe that your body was not harmed in any way by the experience you described. Let me mention, however, that it is not ?volts? that can, using your phrase, be going through you to ground. Voltage is the driving force that pushes current. It will have been current that would have gone through you to ground.

If you come into contact with 110 volts, the amount of current that would flow through your body could easily be enough to cause a fatal injury. It would have also been very painful, and the sensation could not be mistaken for any other. But you felt nothing. That tells me that you were absolutely not in contact with 110 volts.

On the other hand, if you come into contact with 3 volts, the amount of current that would flow through your body would be so slight as to be inconsequential. No matter how long you hold onto a 3 volt source, you would not be at risk of electrocution, nor even of any bodily damage.

As to your swimming pool comment, I cannot agree that the act of swimming will cause current to flow through your body. There have been cases (such as a downed utility line) in which ground currents have been felt by persons in hot tubs or swimming pools. But you make it sound as though it always happens, like it is a normal occurrence. That it is not.

I do not understand your question about ELF/EMF fields.

 

[fallettap]

To the moderator,

My question on EMF/ELF fields is, do these currents produced by these fields go through your body to ground or is it just a field that does not enter your body and effects your skin. And no I am not offended by the other posters I am sure this is a unique question.

 

[jim dungar]

The impedance on the meter was 1 million Ohms. It was still electricity flowing through me for a long time. I am still concerned. As I asked in my original post is this the same as situation as some swimming pools and ELF/EMF exposure?

What else were you touching? Current only flows in a closed circuit and not necessarily to ground. If you had a meter probe in one hand and it displays voltage, it does not mean that you had any current flowing through your body at all unless you had contact with another part of the circuit. As a test, turn the meter on and lay it down on a table without the probes touching anything, you will probably see a voltage displayed.

And no, this is not the same as ELF (extremly low frequency) current causing an EMF (electromagnetic field).

 

[dbuckley]

This is not much different to using a neon test screwdriver. It works because the impedance of your body to ground through your shoes and flooring is sufficiently low to enable a tiny amount of current to flow, enough to light a neon or put up a reading on a DVM.

Note that we are talking 60Hz AC here, so this is impedance not resistance; across your shows must of the current "flow" will be capacitive.

You have not been melted or damaged in any way.

 

[fallettap]

I was not touching anything with the other hand, so you are saying the cicuit was closed when it reached my hand, I thought the red probe touching the hot wire was live electricity flowing through the black probe searching for ground. I was not well grounded on a carpeted second story wooden floor.

 

[petersonra]

I was using a multimeter and had the red lead attached to a hot AC 110V/15A circuit.
Unknowingly (I was distracted) I was touching the metal prong of the black lead for up to a minute and was not feeling anything . When I realized this I checked the meter and it was measuring 3 volts. I am concerned about all the electricity that was going in my body for all that time. Was it 3 volts or 110 going through me to ground. What in everyday life exposes you to this so I can put this in perspective. Are most swimming pools sending minor AC current through yourself to ground which you probably dont feel, if so I have exposed my self many times before unknowingly and probably do not need to worry. Also in regards to ELF/EMF fields are minor currents going through your body to ground? If so with both the swimming pools and ELF/EMF roughly how much current in mila or micro amps is passing through you and for how long?

Even after reading this posts multiple times I am not sure what to make of it. Bottom line is this. If using a volt meter with a high input impedance, it is very common to measure a few volts between any two points. It is not dangerous.

I won't comment on the swimming pool question because I am not sure I understand it.

ELF and EMF are not generally thought to have any especially negative effects in the extremely low dosages most of us get. You will find people who think other wise, but what science there is on it, and it is not much, is not all that clear that these very low dosages are harmful. As the exposure grows, it is clear damage is quite possible, even likely (think exposing yourself to high power microwaves or x-rays), so clearly there is potential for damage at some level of exposure. What the safe exposure limit is not all that clear, nor is it clear there is a completely safe limit for some exposure.

The reason is that sometimes you do something that has some negative aspects, but the overall end result is good. Its true people die from exposure to electricity. Its also true that many more lives are saved due to the availability of electricity than die from its use. Another example is x-rays. Even small dosages may cause some increased risk. But if the use of x-rays finds a cancer that can then be cut out and save your life, that added risk is well worth it.

 

[fallettap]

I tried several experiments with the black probe, when touching the floor I got 1 volt when touching a grounded sink I got 110 volts. Some things I touched had 0 volts all coming from a 110 outlet.

 

[jim dungar]

I was not touching anything with the other hand, so you are saying the cicuit was closed when it reached my hand, I thought the red probe touching the hot wire was live electricity flowing through the black probe searching for ground. I was not well grounded on a carpeted second story wooden floor.

Voltage is NOT trying to find ground. Voltage is a potential difference, current is what flows in a complete path and trys to return to its source Ground is only one possible path it is not the destination.

 

[jtester]

Additionally electrical fields have been shown to enhance healing of broken bones. One can't make a serious all inclusive statement either way concerning EMF's. Some are good, some aren't. Some are harmful, some aren't.

I was trained by a utility to preach that EMF isn't harmful. Acutally the research was inconclusive, however some people can use that to say "EMF's aren't dangerous, show me proof otherwise."

Jim T

 

[fallettap]

Voltage is NOT trying to find ground. Voltage is a potential difference, current is what flows in a complete path and trys to return to its source Ground is only one possible path it is not the destination.

What other destination would there be if the circuit is not complete?

 

[480sparky]

When I first started in the trade, my boss used one of the little neon testers (the ones with two leads that fit in your shirt pocket) to produce the same results. Touch one lead to a wire, and grab the other between thumb and finger. If the wire is hot, the bulb will glow dimly. We did a lot of resi upgrades and no ground was present in some situations.

 

[winnie]

Falletap,

It will be difficult to impossible to answer your question, since the very wording of your question shows that you don't understand the basic physics involved.

For example, the statement 'I thought the red probe touching the hot wire was live electricity flowing through the black probe searching for ground' is essentially meaningless.

Electric currents flow in closed circuit paths. For electrical power distribution where you have a single 'source' that is pumping the current around the circuit, then it is fair to say that the electric current is always trying to flow back to its source. The electric current will flow via _all_ paths available to it, at a rate that is inversely proportional to the impedance of each particular path.

Electric current may flow through you if you become part of a close circuit path back to the source.

The electrical power distribution in your home includes _intentional_ connection of a portion of the circuit to Earth. This creates a 'grounded' electrical system, and means that the Earth itself _may_ become a path back to the source. Because of this intentional grounding, it is possible to get a shock between a 'hot' conductor and the Earth, with the current flowing from the hot wire, through you, then through the Earth, and back to the source.

In your case, you were part of a circuit...but a _very high impedance_ circuit. The circuit included the wires from the transformer (very low impedance), you (moderate impedance), the meter (1 million ohm impedance), the insulating building materials (very high impedance), and possibly the Earth (moderate impedance). The current that would flow through you as a result of this contact would be measured in microamperes or smaller. To put this in context, GFCI outlets are required to trip in the 4-6mA range. In other words, in the worst case in the situation you described, with the current limited by the volt meter only, the current flowing through you would have been 1/500 the trip level of a GFCI.

I won't touch on the EMF issue. The topic is too large, with too much bad science and too many low risk level issues to be given justice in a short posting. I am certain that with a sensitive enough instrument, you would be able to detect current flowing through any body of water, but that it would be an extremely low level of current flow.

-Jon

 

[fallettap]

Falletap,

It will be difficult to impossible to answer your question, since the very wording of your question shows that you don't understand the basic physics involved.

For example, the statement 'I thought the red probe touching the hot wire was live electricity flowing through the black probe searching for ground' is essentially meaningless.

Electric currents flow in closed circuit paths. For electrical power distribution where you have a single 'source' that is pumping the current around the circuit, then it is fair to say that the electric current is always trying to flow back to its source. The electric current will flow via _all_ paths available to it, at a rate that is inversely proportional to the impedance of each particular path.

Electric current may flow through you if you become part of a close circuit path back to the source.

The electrical power distribution in your home includes _intentional_ connection of a portion of the circuit to Earth. This creates a 'grounded' electrical system, and means that the Earth itself _may_ become a path back to the source. Because of this intentional grounding, it is possible to get a shock between a 'hot' conductor and the Earth, with the current flowing from the hot wire, through you, then through the Earth, and back to the source.

In your case, you were part of a circuit...but a _very high impedance_ circuit. The circuit included the wires from the transformer (very low impedance), you (moderate impedance), the meter (1 million ohm impedance), the insulating building materials (very high impedance), and possibly the Earth (moderate impedance). The current that would flow through you as a result of this contact would be measured in microamperes or smaller. To put this in context, GFCI outlets are required to trip in the 4-6mA range. In other words, in the worst case in the situation you described, with the current limited by the volt meter only, the current flowing through you would have been 1/500 the trip level of a GFCI.

I won't touch on the EMF issue. The topic is too large, with too much bad science and too many low risk level issues to be given justice in a short posting. I am certain that with a sensitive enough instrument, you would be able to detect current flowing through any body of water, but that it would be an extremely low level of current flow.

-Jon

Why would a body of water produce current? Would it be AC or DC, how much current, would it be micro amps or smaller?