Injury by Magnetic Field Pulse

Electrical Injury Care Services

Magnetic fields represent the force of moving electrical charges produced by other moving charges. It’s a different force than the force generated by an electrical field. A pulse of electrical current will generate an electric field in conducting material such as the human body. That magnetically induced electric field can cause damage to tissues.

injury by magnetic field

An individual close to a lightning strike will likely experience large magnetic field pulse penetrating the body which could generate an electrical current within the body for a brief period of time.

The duration of the current flow is relatively short. Very strong magnetically induced electrical current pulses have been shown to disrupt the membranes of cells. Larger cells like muscle and nerve would be injured by much smaller magnetic field pulses than small cells like skin cells.