Exposure limits
Individual numeric exposure limits and precautionary values, each with its quantity, unit, frequency band, averaging time, population and citation.
10 W/m² incident power density, adopted from ICNIRP 2020 by ARPANSA RPS S-1 and binding through licence conditions and the ACMA device standard.
1 × 10^7 µW/m² · 2–300 GHz · general public
10 W/m² (61 V/m) for the general public, the ICNIRP figure as adopted by Anatel for 2.1 GHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz sites.
1 × 10^7 µW/m² · 2–300 GHz · general public
f/200 W/m² (f in MHz) by legal adoption of ICNIRP — 4.5 W/m² at 900 MHz — enforced by Anatel through station licensing since 1 March 2024.
2,000,000–1 × 10^7 µW/m² · 400–2000 MHz · general public
f/4012.19 W/m² indoors — 0.2243 W/m² (9.19 V/m) at 900 MHz, the stricter of the two Brussels tiers, applying to homes, hotels, schools, crèches, hospitals and care homes.
99,700–499,200 µW/m² · 400–2000 MHz, indoors · general public
f/1597.28 W/m² summed over all fixed transmitters — 0.5635 W/m² (14.57 V/m) at 900 MHz, about a tenth of the EU reference level in power terms.
250,400–1,252,000 µW/m² · 400–2000 MHz, outdoors · general public
Sleeping-area grades with ground reference: below 1 V/m no anomaly, 1–5 weak, 5–50 strong, above 50 V/m extreme; body voltage below 10 mV is 'no anomaly'.
1–50 V/m · power frequency and harmonics · sensitive
Sleeping-area grades at 50/60 Hz: below 0.2 mG no anomaly, 0.2–1 mG weak, 1–5 mG strong, above 5 mG extreme.
0.2–5 mG · power frequency and harmonics · sensitive
Above 1000 µW/m² peak from a single RF source in a sleeping area is graded 'extreme anomaly' and triggers a remediation recommendation.
1,000 µW/m² · per single RF source, peak · sensitive
Below 0.1 µW/m² peak per RF source in a sleeping area is graded 'no anomaly' — a precautionary target eight orders of magnitude below the FCC limit.
0–0.1 µW/m² · per single RF source, peak · sensitive
100 µT magnetic flux density and 4 kV/m electric field for public exposure at 50 Hz, with 10 kV/m allowed on farmland and roads beneath overhead transmission lines.
100 µT · 0.025–1.2 kHz · general public
f/7500 W/m² (f in MHz), so 0.47 W/m² at 3.5 GHz and 0.77 W/m² at 5.8 GHz — the band that covers 5G mid-band and 5 GHz Wi-Fi.
400,000–2,000,000 µW/m² · 3000–15,000 MHz · general public
12 V/m, equivalently 0.4 W/m², across the FM, TV, and sub-3 GHz cellular and Wi-Fi bands — the strictest widely enforced national limit in that range apart from Russia's.
400,000 µW/m² · 30–3000 MHz · general public
100 µT (1000 mG) magnetic flux density and 5 kV/m electric field strength at power frequency, the values still in force across the EU.
100 µT · 50 Hz · general public
10 µW/m² at night for GPRS, DAB+ and WLAN-type sources, 100 µW/m² daytime, 0.1 µW/m² for sensitive individuals.
10 µW/m² · pulsed digital services · sensitive
1.0 mW/cm² power density averaged over 30 minutes — the band that covers most cellular, Wi-Fi and 5G frequencies in the United States.
1 × 10^7 µW/m² · 1500–100,000 MHz · general public
The most restrictive RF band in the FCC table — 0.2 mW/cm², equivalently 27.5 V/m — covering FM broadcast, TV and land-mobile services.
27.5 V/m · 30–300 MHz · general public
Frequency-dependent limit of f/1500 mW/cm², so the allowance rises with frequency across the low-band and mid-band cellular spectrum.
2,000,000–1 × 10^7 µW/m² · 300–1500 MHz · general public
5.0 mW/cm² averaged over 6 minutes for trained workers in controlled environments — five times the general-public allowance.
5 × 10^7 µW/m² · 1500–100,000 MHz · occupational
1.6 W/kg averaged over any 1 gram of tissue — the number quoted on U.S. phone SAR sheets — plus 0.08 W/kg whole-body.
1.6 W/kg · 100 kHz–6 GHz · general public
0.686 √f V/m for all fixed transmitters combined — 13.7 V/m below 400 MHz, 20.6 V/m at 900 MHz, 29.1 V/m at 1800 MHz and 30.7 V/m from 2 GHz up.
13.7–30.7 V/m · 400–2000 MHz · general public
200 µT (2000 mG) for the public and 1000 µT occupational — five orders of magnitude above typical household background.
200 µT · 50/60 Hz · general public
1000 µT (10,000 mG) for workers — five times the public reference level, on the basis that an occupational population is informed, trained and supervised. It does not apply to the public or to a home.
1,000 µT · 50/60 Hz · occupational
10 W/m² incident power density averaged over 30 minutes and over the whole body — the reference level that 5G mid-band and Wi-Fi compliance is judged against outside the U.S.
1 × 10^7 µW/m² · 2–300 GHz · general public
Frequency-scaled reference level f/200 W/m², giving 4.5 W/m² at 900 MHz and 9 W/m² at 1800 MHz.
2,000,000–1 × 10^7 µW/m² · 400–2000 MHz · general public
2 W/kg averaged over 10 grams of tissue for the general public — a different averaging mass than the FCC's 1 g, which is why SAR numbers are not directly comparable between regions.
2 W/kg · 100 kHz–6 GHz · general public
0.08 W/kg for the general public and 0.4 W/kg occupational — the thermal basis from which every RF reference level is derived.
0.08 W/kg · 100 kHz–300 GHz · general public
1 W/m² (19.29 V/m) for base-station emissions — a tenth of the ICNIRP public reference level, and the limit that applies to 2100 MHz and 5G mid-band sites.
1,000,000 µW/m² · 2–300 GHz · general public
f/2000 W/m² (f in MHz) — 0.45 W/m² at 900 MHz and 0.9 W/m² at 1800 MHz, one tenth of the ICNIRP figure for the same band.
200,000–1,000,000 µW/m² · 400–2000 MHz · general public
The precautionary tier of Italian law, raised from 6 V/m to 15 V/m on 30 April 2024: it applies inside buildings occupied four or more hours a day and outdoors in intensively frequented areas.
15 V/m · 100 kHz–300 GHz · general public
The non-precautionary tier: 20 V/m (about 1 W/m²) as the exposure limit for public exposure to fixed installations between 3 MHz and 3 GHz, unchanged by the 2024 amendment.
20 V/m · 3 MHz–3 GHz · general public
61.4 V/m, equivalently 1 mW/cm² (10 W/m²) — the value that applies to Japanese 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 3.7 GHz and 28 GHz sites and to Wi-Fi.
61.4 V/m · 1.5–300 GHz · general public
27.5 V/m, equivalently 0.2 mW/cm² (2 W/m²), across FM, VHF TV and the 150–300 MHz land-mobile bands, averaged over six minutes.
27.5 V/m · 30–300 MHz · general public
f/1500 mW/cm² (f in MHz) — 6 W/m² at 900 MHz, the band that carries most 2G/3G/4G downlink in Japan.
2,000,000–1 × 10^7 µW/m² · 300 MHz–1.5 GHz · general public
2 W/kg averaged over any 10 g of tissue and any six minutes, mandatory for equipment used close to the head since June 2002.
2 W/kg · equipment used near the head · general public
200 µT (2000 mG) at commercial frequency in the space a person would occupy near transformers, switchgear and power lines, binding since 1 October 2011.
200 µT · commercial frequency (50/60 Hz) · general public
28 V/m and 2 W/m² for the general public across VHF/UHF broadcasting and the 400 MHz land-mobile band.
28 V/m · 10–400 MHz · general public
61 V/m and 10 W/m² — the value that governs Korean 2.1 GHz, 3.5 GHz and 28 GHz sites and Wi-Fi.
61 V/m · 2–300 GHz · general public
f/200 W/m² (f in MHz) — 4.5 W/m² at 900 MHz and 9 W/m² at 1800 MHz, with E = 1.375 √f V/m.
2,000,000–1 × 10^7 µW/m² · 400–2000 MHz · general public
83.3 µT (833 mG) at Korea's 60 Hz mains frequency — the ICNIRP 1998 reference level, which Korea kept rather than moving to the 200 µT figure of the 2010 revision.
83.3 µT · 60 Hz · general public
28 V/m and 2 W/m² in places accessible to the public — up from the 7 V/m that applied before 1 January 2020.
28 V/m · 10–400 MHz · general public
61 V/m and 10 W/m² in places accessible to the public, in force since 1 January 2020.
61 V/m · 2–300 GHz · general public
1.375 √f V/m and f/200 W/m² (f in MHz) — 41.25 V/m at 900 MHz, matching the EU reference levels.
2,000,000–1 × 10^7 µW/m² · 400–2000 MHz · general public
1000 V/m on land zoned for housing — five times stricter than the 5000 V/m EU/ICNIRP reference level, and a separate stricter tier from the 10,000 V/m that applies in other publicly accessible places.
1,000 V/m · 50 Hz · general public
60 A/m on land zoned for housing, which is 75 µT (750 mG) — slightly below the EU's 100 µT reference level.
75.4 µT · 50 Hz · general public
3 V/m electric field strength for the population — the lowest broadcast-band public limit of any major jurisdiction, about a tenth of the FCC value.
3 V/m · 30–300 MHz · general public
10 µW/cm² (0.1 W/m², or 100,000 µW/m²) time-averaged power flux density — roughly a hundredth of the ICNIRP public reference level and the strictest national RF limit in wide use.
100,000–250,000 µW/m² · 0.3–300 GHz · general public
0.08 W/kg whole-body average, with peak spatially-averaged limits of 1.6 W/kg for head, neck and trunk and 4.0 W/kg for limbs — the same headline figure as the U.S.
1.6 W/kg · 100 kHz–6 GHz · general public
Frequency-dependent power density of 0.02619 f^0.6834 W/m² (f in MHz) — 4.56 W/m² at 1900 MHz and 5.42 W/m² at 2450 MHz, so Canada is somewhat stricter than ICNIRP across the cellular and Wi-Fi bands.
1,290,000–1 × 10^7 µW/m² · 300–6000 MHz · general public
10 W/m² (61.4 V/m) averaged over 6 minutes — the flat plateau above 6 GHz, identical to the ICNIRP figure.
1 × 10^7 µW/m² · 6000–15,000 MHz · general public
4–6 V/m at places of sensitive use depending on band — about 100 times lower in power density than ICNIRP's reference level.
4–6 V/m · mobile service bands · sensitive
1 µT (10 mG) magnetic flux density at places of sensitive use — the strictest power-frequency installation value in force in Europe.
1 µT · 50 Hz · sensitive
10 W/m² — the ICNIRP 2020 public reference level, made enforceable in the UK by the Ofcom EMF licence condition rather than by a UK-specific number.
1 × 10^7 µW/m² · 2–300 GHz · general public
18.4 V/m at 900 MHz for all operators on one antenna site combined, introduced alongside the per-operator limit in December 2022.
18.4 V/m · 900 MHz reference · general public
9.2 V/m at 900 MHz for all of one operator's antennas on a single support — the value that replaced the much-quoted 3 V/m per antenna in December 2022.
9.2 V/m · 900 MHz reference · general public
The average daily exposure level above which pooled epidemiological studies report an association with childhood leukaemia, and the basis for the IARC Group 2B classification of ELF magnetic fields.
0.3–0.4 µT · 50/60 Hz · sensitive
Same record, other formats