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This texas girl got electrocuted and died while using her cellphone in the bathtub. Can a person with wet hands or sweaty palms face mild electrocution if he answers the phone while it is being charged?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/07/11/texas-girl-electrocuted-while-using-cellphone-bathtub/467225001/

A 14-year-old girl from Lubbock, Texas, died Sunday after being electrocuted in a bathtub while using her cell phone, according to local reports.

Madison Coe was electrocuted after she either grabbed her phone that was plugged in or plugged in her phone, her grandmother Donna O'Guinn told KCBD-TV.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Poor quality USB Chargers \$\endgroup\$
    – Jeroen3
    Commented Jul 12, 2017 at 11:10
  • \$\begingroup\$ Obviously, if the charger is broken. You link to an event that is not yet investigated, so no one here can know. \$\endgroup\$
    – pipe
    Commented Jul 12, 2017 at 11:12
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    \$\begingroup\$ Quote from the fake iPad charger teardown: The creepage distance on the counterfeit charger board below is scary - only 0.6 mm separation between low and high voltage. If you use the (fake) charger in a humid bathroom and a drop of water condenses across the 0.6 mm gap, then zap! \$\endgroup\$
    – Volodymyr Smotesko
    Commented Jul 12, 2017 at 11:13
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    \$\begingroup\$ Mild electrocution? Is that where you die only a little? \$\endgroup\$
    – marcelm
    Commented Jul 12, 2017 at 13:05
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    \$\begingroup\$ They also did not have a GFCI or a faulty one. There are three points of failure here. One is the charger (should have been isolated with a transformer) and two is the bathroom should have had a GFCI that works and three nobody should use electrical devices in water that are connected to mains. The odds of this happening to somone else are slim, you never hear any news reports from the people who dropped a cellphone charger in the water and tripped the GFCI \$\endgroup\$
    – Voltage Spike ♦
    Commented Jul 12, 2017 at 15:18

2 Answers 2

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It wasn't simply the wet hands that killed her, it was also the fact that her body was thoroughly grounded via the bath water and the metallic plumbing of the bathtub. This, coupled with a faulty charger, created a dangerous situation. Only a GFCI/RCD would have saved her.

This is why you don't use cheap no-name chargers. If there's any doubt, plug it into a circuit that's protected by a leakage current detector. This is also why all modern building codes require such protection for all circuits installed near plumbing, as in bathrooms and kitchens.

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Can a person with wet hands or sweaty palms face mild electrocution if he answers the phone while it is being charged?

The voltage is low, higher for land line but generally below the safety voltage.

However, you can have individuals who are uber sensitive to voltage, or you can have unsafe chargers or unsafe phones, or unsafe environment - like lightening, ...

So the answer is definitively yes.

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    \$\begingroup\$ What is "send o.j. rice to voltage?" What are "individuals who are rubber?" \$\endgroup\$
    – Wayne Conrad
    Commented Jul 12, 2017 at 13:04
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    \$\begingroup\$ It's "uber sensitive" via corrective text! His spill chick is fixed now. \$\endgroup\$
    – Transistor
    Commented Jul 12, 2017 at 20:39

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