Can I let go of 10mA mains (240V 50Hz) current? (Do NOT try this!)

Possibly one of the scariest electrical safety videos I've made. It's commonly believed that the point at which you can't let go of live metalwork is around 10mA of AC current, although the exact value will depend on the cross sectional area of your limbs. Smaller people will be affected at lower currents.
I decided to test this in a controlled manner by giving myself a series of progressively stronger electric shocks from 240V AC at 50Hz via good quality cascaded current limiting resistors.

DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS YOURSELF. It carries a huge risk of death if you make a mistake or if you have a high susceptibility to electric shock. This demonstration was carried out in a controlled environment with significant knowledge of the variables involved.

The setup involved a pair of hand-held electrodes from eBay commonly referred to as grenade electrodes. They are one of the very wide range of electrodes for use with the electro-stimulation devices generically sold for TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation), muscle growth (doesn't!), massage, acupuncture and "adult-fun".

I'd like to clarify that the "big" electrode was a joke Christmas present from my brother who literally typed "huge electrified d***o" into eBay and it actually came up with one!

When AC current passes through your body it stimulates the nerves and muscles in its path. At high enough current levels this results in uncontrolled muscle actuation, and because each limb has a bias the strongest muscles win against the weakest. In the case of your legs they will go rigidly straight, meaning if you are crouching down your legs will often propel you into the air. That's where being "thrown" by electricity comes from. With your hands and arms the hands will close tightly, sometimes onto the live metalwork you came in contact with, and your arms will raise up to your chest. Your head tilts back and your feet go up on your tiptoes making you fall backwards. If you were holding a live wire and it follows you to the ground then that's bad news.

The most dangerous shock scenarios for mains voltage electrical work are:-

Working in a wet environment. It greatly lowers your skin resistance and can also provide a good current path to ground. What might have given you a slight tingle in a dry indoor environment will give you a strong and potentially fatal shock in an outdoor environment.

Working in a confined area where there's no chance to drop away from a contact with live metalwork poses a huge risk of sustained current flow. That includes reaching around inside equipment and leaning over equipment. This is a very common electrocution scenario.

On a plus note the number of electrical fatalities is very low. Enough to make headlines when it happens. It's more common to get a non-fatal shock that ranges from a tingle to a full on gripping shock that you manage to break free from. The risk of death is low, but the risk of serious muscle and tissue damage is high. In extreme instances this can break bones or require subsequent amputation of limbs if the flesh inside is damaged.

The main thing to know if you do get an electric shock is that you are very unlikely to die, but if it's a significant shock then you should seek medical attention as a precaution. I'm specifically mentioning the low risk of actual death because that knowledge can genuinely make a difference. A strong electric shock can be a very physical and terrifying experience to people who have never had one before, and if they believe the hysteria propagated by vested interests in the "safety" industry the extra stress can actually make the risk of death more likely. By knowing you are unlikely to die it removes a significant amount of the emotional stress from the situation and reduces the risk of actual death.

There are specific industries that involve electrical work in a wet outdoor environment where the workers have had proper long term mentored training, know the extra risks and take precautions. But they also accept that they will get an occasional tingle because current leakage is common in that electrical environment.

Test results from the video:-
4mA - 17V - contact resistance 4250 ohms.
8mA - 29V - contact resistance 3625 ohms.
11mA - 31V - contact resistance 2818 ohms.
13mA - 34V - contact resistance 2615 ohms.

Possible rogue variables. Those semi conductive rubber electrodes and the voltage reading being taken from their end. The vague floating voltage on the meter is capacitive coupling through the footswitch cable.