# Averaging time

> Regulatory limits apply to an average: 30 minutes for the general public under FCC and ICNIRP rules, 6 minutes for occupational exposure.

- Canonical URL: https://emfbase.com/glossary/averaging-time
- Collection: Glossary
- Record id: `glossary:averaging-time`
- Status: verified
- Last verified: 2026-08-12
- JSON: https://emfbase.com/api/glossary/averaging-time

## Key values

- **Category:** regulation

## Definition

Exposure limits above 100 kHz are time-averaged because the effect they prevent is thermal and depends on accumulated energy. A brief peak far above the limit can be fully compliant if the 30-minute average is below it. Comparing a peak-hold consumer meter reading to a time-averaged limit is therefore not a valid compliance assessment, in either direction.

## Sources

- `fcc-1310` U.S. Government Publishing Office (eCFR). *47 CFR § 1.1310 — Radiofrequency radiation exposure limits*. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/section-1.1310 — regulation, link checked 2026-08-12
- `icnirp-2020` International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (2020). *Guidelines for Limiting Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields (100 kHz to 300 GHz)*. https://www.icnirp.org/en/publications/article/rf-guidelines-2020.html — guideline, link checked 2026-08-12

Data licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Dataset version 2026.08.1. Retrieved from EMFBase, https://emfbase.com.

This record is reference data, not medical or legal advice. Regulatory limits, scientific guidelines and precautionary values are labelled separately and answer different questions.