It really does matter how far away the sound measurement is taken. 12mm vs. 1000mm away is not trivial for this "decibel" number to make any sense, contextually.

140dB at 12mm is equivalent to 100db at 1000mm. So that's 20dB less than an "ambulance" or "jackhammer" as listed here[0]. Which definitely would make the article misleading.

0: https://noiseawareness.org/info-center/common-noise-levels/