Life's Little Mysteries

Why Are Most Glow-In-the Dark Toys Green?

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What do most Halloween haunted houses and planetariums gift shops have in common? They're chock full of stuff that glows in the dark, from scary masks to plastic stars to stick on your bedroom ceiling. But why is it that many of these objects glow green?

While there are potentially many colors that might be used to make phosphorescent (or glow-in-the-dark) items, yellow-green is by far the most popular and most common color . Part of the reason lies in the color's inherent eeriness: for some reason, people find green creepier in haunted houses than, say, blue or yellow. (This ickiness factor of the color green extends to other toys as well, such as green slime.)

Zinc sulfide is non-toxic, relatively cheap to produce (thus making it perfect for inexpensive toys), and happens to naturally glow that distinctive green color. Toy manufacturers could (and sometimes do) add other colors to the phosphorescent zinc sulfide base, but the result is often less bright and doesn't last as long as the good, old-fashioned green glow.

Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and author of Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries. His Web site is www.RadfordBooks.com.

Benjamin Radford
Benjamin Radford
Live Science Contributor
Benjamin Radford is the Bad Science columnist for Live Science. He covers pseudoscience, psychology, urban legends and the science behind "unexplained" or mysterious phenomenon. Ben has a master's degree in education and a bachelor's degree in psychology. He is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and has written, edited or contributed to more than 20 books, including "Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries," "Tracking the Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction, and Folklore" and “Investigating Ghosts: The Scientific Search for Spirits,” out in fall 2017. His website is www.BenjaminRadford.com.