# Why does the same phone have two different SAR values?

> U.S. SAR is averaged over 1 g against 1.6 W/kg; EU/ICNIRP SAR over 10 g against 2 W/kg. The numbers are not interchangeable, and body-worn values only hold at their declared separation distance.

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- Record id: `questions:why-does-phone-sar-differ-between-us-and-europe`
- Status: verified
- Last verified: 2026-08-12
- JSON: https://emfbase.com/api/questions/why-does-phone-sar-differ-between-us-and-europe
- Also known as: 1g vs 10g SAR, SAR US vs Europe, why two SAR values

## Key values

- **Topic:** devices

## Question

Why does my phone show one SAR value in the U.S. and a different one in Europe?

## Answer

The two figures come from different averaging masses and different limits, not from different hardware. The U.S. FCC limit is 1.6 W/kg averaged over 1 g of tissue, while ICNIRP and the EU use 2 W/kg averaged over 10 g; spreading the same absorbed power over ten times the mass lowers the number, so a European value is typically smaller and cannot be compared with a U.S. one or read as a safety ranking. Body-worn values add a second variable: each is declared at a stated separation distance, commonly 5 mm, and does not describe the phone flat against skin.

## Related records

- [FCC SAR limit for phones and portable devices](https://emfbase.com/limits/fcc-sar-limit-phones): 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.
- [ICNIRP 2020 local SAR basic restriction (head and torso)](https://emfbase.com/limits/icnirp-local-sar-limit): 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.
- [Looking up a phone's SAR from the primary record](https://emfbase.com/protocols/sar-lookup): How to get the tested SAR for a specific handset from the FCC equipment authorization database using the device's FCC ID, instead of relying on third-party lists.
- [SAR (specific absorption rate)](https://emfbase.com/glossary/sar): Watts absorbed per kilogram of tissue, the dosimetric basis of phone compliance testing — 1.6 W/kg over 1 g in the U.S., 2 W/kg over 10 g under ICNIRP.

## Sources

- `fcc-2-1093` U.S. Government Publishing Office (eCFR). *47 CFR § 2.1093 — Radiofrequency radiation exposure evaluation: portable devices*. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/section-2.1093 — 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
- `bfs-sar-mobile` Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (German Federal Office for Radiation Protection). *Specific absorption rate (SAR) of mobile phones — measurement procedure and interpretation*. https://www.bfs.de/EN/topics/emf/mobile-communication/protection/sar-mobil/sar-mobile-phone.html — government, 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.