Research brief
15–100Hz — the lethal band

Frequency, not voltage, decides the danger

Fatal electric shocks cluster in a narrow band. Household mains sits in the middle of it.

What is known

Ventricular fibrillation is the main cause of fatal shock between roughly 15 and 100 Hz — exactly where mains sits (50 Hz UK, 60 Hz US). IEC 60479-2 is the international standard covering 1 kHz to 10 kHz, and the fibrillation threshold rises as frequency climbs. Nerves have a maximum firing rate; above a few kHz each half-cycle is too brief to trigger one. At high enough frequency current runs at the surface — which is why electrosurgery can burn tissue without stopping a heart.

What is missing

Public understanding of it. A plasma globe at about 27 kHz will not stop your heart — but add copper tape and a ground path and it will start a fire. The danger doesn't vanish, it changes character.

What you can do with this

Say it plainly

“High voltage isn't what kills you. Frequency is.”

Sort the videos

Tesla coils and Faraday suits demonstrate energy transfer. Medical cold plasma runs at 3–15 watts — less than a fridge bulb. Opposite engineering intent.

Watch the trap

“Our frequency is above the dangerous band” is true. “Therefore this device is safe” is a different claim and it does not follow.

This is an extract. The full picture is in The Evidence Map — or start at the library index.

Cold Plasma Research Library. Compiled from Europe PMC and ClinicalTrials.gov, September 2026 — 4,846 cold plasma papers, 662 on plasma-activated water, 52 registered trials. Counts are title-restricted and therefore floors, not ceilings: a low number means barely anyone has made this their subject, not that nobody has ever looked.

These pages describe published research on a technology. They do not describe or endorse any product, they are not medical advice, and nothing here should be used to decide about treating a health condition. Speak to a qualified clinician about anything that matters.