Static electricity (friction electricity, or triboelectricity) can have a number of damaging effects, depending on the size of the charge and the environment.
Usually the electrical discharge associated with static electricity is small, but it can be significant enough to cause death under the right circumstances.
Effects of a normal static discharge:
(1) ignition of a flammable gas (in the operating room, at a gas station, in the home)
(2) damage to sensitive piece of electronics like a computer chip
(3) artifact the recording of an electronic device
(4) unintended action of an electronic device that misreads the electricity as a signal
(5) benign startle
(6) startle that triggers a pathologic response in the recipient (seizure, myocardial infarction, etc)
(7) trigger a cardiac arrhythmia
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