# What is Russia's 10 µW/cm² limit?

> Russia's public limit is 10 µW/cm² = 0.1 W/m² = 100,000 µW/m² from 300 MHz to 300 GHz, roughly a hundredth of the ICNIRP reference level.

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- Collection: Direct answers
- Record id: `questions:what-is-russias-10-microwatt-limit`
- Status: verified
- Last verified: 2026-08-12
- JSON: https://emfbase.com/api/questions/what-is-russias-10-microwatt-limit
- Also known as: Russia EMF limit, SanPiN limit, 10 microwatt per cm2 limit

## Key values

- **Topic:** regulation

## Question

Why is Russia's EMF limit 10 µW/cm², and what does that equal in other units?

## Answer

Russian sanitary norms (SanPiN) cap public exposure at 10 µW/cm² of time-averaged power flux density from 300 MHz to 300 GHz, which equals 0.1 W/m² or 100,000 µW/m² — about a hundredth of the ICNIRP public reference level — with 3 V/m applying from 30 to 300 MHz. The Soviet-era derivation used long-term exposure endpoints rather than the acute thermal threshold ICNIRP works from, which is why the figure is so much lower; it is frequently cited in campaign material as proof that Western limits are too high. It applies in residential areas, places of mass recreation and inside dwellings, including secondary radiation.

## Related records

- [Russia SanPiN public RF limits](https://emfbase.com/standards/russia-sanpin-rf): Russia's sanitary norms for public RF exposure, which cap power flux density at 10 µW/cm² from 300 MHz to 300 GHz — about a hundredth of the ICNIRP reference level.
- [Russia public limit, 300 MHz–300 GHz](https://emfbase.com/limits/russia-public-limit-above-300-mhz): 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.
- [Russia public limit, 30–300 MHz](https://emfbase.com/limits/russia-public-limit-30-300-mhz): 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.

## Sources

- `russia-sanpin-1383` Главный государственный санитарный врач РФ (via ConsultantPlus) (2003). *СанПиН 2.1.8/2.2.4.1383-03, приложение 1, таблица 2 — ПДУ ЭМП 30 кГц–300 ГГц для населения*. https://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_43243/b80f2a134eb7436dbdb5ff9efd13bd96e1a2e452/ — regulation, link checked 2026-08-12
- `russia-sanpin-2021` Роспотребнадзор (via ConsultantPlus) (2021). *СанПиН 1.2.3685-21 — Гигиенические нормативы и требования к обеспечению безопасности факторов среды обитания*. https://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_375839/ — regulation, 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.