Lens Color Guide for Safety Glasses

Lens colors are task-specific. The type of your application and environment should determine what type of lens you are using. As a general rule, lenses are based on color wheel opposites. Blue and Yellow are opposites so Blue lens absorbs yellow lights, while Yellow lens absorb blue lights. Green and Red are opposites as well. So, Green lens will absorb red lights, and Red lens will absorb green lights.

Lens Color	Application	Benefits
Clear	Indoor	Impact protection
Gray	Outdoors to protect against light & glare eye strain	Enhances color recognition
I/O	Clear lens w/mirror coating, same as gray. Will allow more visible light through the lens for indoor/outdoor use	Reduces glare from artificial light sources
Gold, Blue, Silver Mirror	Outdoor to prevent eyestrain from light	Mirror “reflects” light, minimizing glare, and light that passes through the lens
Dark Green	General Purpose	Protects from glare and UV rays
Brown/Espresso	Outdoors to prevent eyestrain and fatigue	Meets color traffic signal recognition requirments
Vermilion	Indoor inspection	Enhances color contrast for optimal color recognition
Amber	Low light environments for maximum contrast enhancement	Blocks blue portion of visible spectrum, creating maximum contrast enhancement
SCT	Uvex’s Spectrum Control Technology lens	Absorbs radiant energy (light) into the polycarbonate lens.