Safety Code 6 SAR basic restrictions (uncontrolled)
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.
Guidelinegeneral public100 kHz–6 GHz
Last verified 12 August 2026.
- Limit value
- 1.6 W/kgGuideline value — scientific recommendation — Uncontrolled-environment basic restrictions: whole-body average 0.08 W/kg; peak spatially-averaged 1.6 W/kg (head, neck, trunk) and 4.0 W/kg (limbs). Controlled-environment values are 0.4, 8 and 20 W/kg. SAR takes precedence over the field-strength reference levels from 100 kHz to 6 GHz.sources: hc-safety-code-6, hc-safety-code-6-pdf
- Quantity
- specific absorption rate
- Frequency band
- 100 kHz–6 GHz
- Population
- general public
- Set by
- Health Canada Safety Code 6 (2015) (2015 revision)
- Kind
- Guideline — scientific recommendation
Related records
- FCC SAR limit for phones and portable devices
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.
Exposure limits
- ICNIRP 2020 local SAR basic restriction (head and torso)
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.
Exposure limits
Sources
- hc-safety-code-6 Limits of Human Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Energy in the Frequency Range from 3 kHz to 300 GHz (Safety Code 6) — Health Canada, 2015. guideline, link checked 2026-08-12.
- hc-safety-code-6-pdf Safety Code 6 (2015), H129-48/2015E-PDF — official PDF edition — Government of Canada Publications, 2015. guideline, link checked 2026-08-12.
Same record, other formats