system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How do stun grenades not cause permanent hearing loss?

I read somewhere that stun grenades are around 170 dB when they go off and they're designed to not cause permanent hearing loss. Isn't that EXTREMELY loud? I thought we experience hearing loss after 120 dBs or something like that?
gpt
You can experience hearing loss at significantly lower dBs than that, if you are exposed long enough. It's a combination of factors - the length of exposure, which is extremely short for a stun grenade, and the distance from the explosion. As long as it doesn't go off right next to your head, and you are only exposed once, you shouldn't have an issue. However, repeated exposure (for example, for people training with them) require people to use significant hearing protection or reduced explosion training grenades.