Review of Blast Injury and Developing Threshold Values for Human Injury

In today’s world, explosions frequently occur in terrorist bombings, industrial and manufacturing sectors, and daily life. The blast waves generated by explosions subject structures and the human body to significant blast loads. These blast loads can cause deadly structural collapses, and serious injuries or fatal outcomes can occur in various parts of the human body, such as the brain, lungs, heart, auditory system, eyes, abdominal region and musculoskeletal system due to the impact of the blast load. This article initially discusses the blast wave and its characteristics (peak pressure and duration) as well as the parameters of the blast wave, which have been related to injuries occurring in the major organs of the human body. Subsequently, the effects of blast loading have been quantitatively documented under the headings of blast injuries, types and mechanisms of blast injuries, and the effects of explosions on the human body, correlating the severity of injuries with nearly all major systems of the human body. As a result, various injury scaling criteria have been carefully compiled to determine thresholds for major organ injuries, and ultimately, limit blast pressure values for different parts of the human body (lung, ear and head) have been proposed.