Chinese scientist passes 71,000 volts through his own body
Researcher puts himself through ordeal to test human threshold for static electricity and to test meter measuring charge in tissue, state media report
A Chinese researcher has put his health on the line by passing 71,000 volts of static electricity through his own body in an experiment, according to a newspaper report.
Liu Shanghe is an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and one of the aims of the experiment was to test the human body’s tolerance to static electricity, the PLA Daily reported.
Other experts have suggested that 50,000 volts is the highest threshold the body can stand, but Liu took it higher, the article said.
His assistants started at 20,000 volts and ramped up the voltage in stages, causing all the hair on his body to stand on end.
The Beijing-based researcher is also developing a meter to measure the amount of static in people’s bodies and the experiment helped him check the effectiveness of the device, according to the article.
The research is of use to the military as static on people can spark shells and other ordnance to explode.
Liu has worked in scientific research for about 50 years and is known as an expert on electrostatic safety, according to the article.
He switched his research path to static electricity in 1983 while working at the Ordnance Engineering College in Hebei province because he was surprised how many people died from electric shocks.
His research efforts, which have included work with harmful gases, have had a marked effect on his health over the years, the report said.
These have included reducing his white blood cell count by more than half and dropping his weight to about 20kg under the recommended level for a man of his height.
However, Liu said: “On the road to understanding electric static, I have never thought about giving up”.
The human body can accumulate static of up to 25,000 volts, such as from dragging one’s feet across a carpet, and some tasers - electro-shock weapons - can deliver up to 50,000 volts.
Voltages in the body over this level, however, can be lethal.
The much greater danger to people is in the level of electric current passing through the body.