Almost every pair of safety glasses sold in the United States claims ANSI Z87.1. Far fewer buyers know what the claim covers, and the difference between two markings that look nearly identical is the difference between a lens that stops a projectile and one that doesn't.
What the standard is
ANSI/ISEA Z87.1 is the American National Standard for occupational and educational eye and face protection. It's developed by the International Safety Equipment Association and approved by the American National Standards Institute. It has been revised repeatedly — the 2020 edition is the one most products on the market today reference, and a further revision was published in 2025. It is the standard OSHA points to for workplace eye protection.
Z87 vs Z87+ — the one that matters
These look almost the same stamped on a temple arm, and they are not the same thing.
- Z87 means basic impact. Adequate for light debris.
- Z87+ means high impact. The eyewear has passed high-velocity and high-mass testing — the high-velocity test fires a quarter-inch steel ball at roughly 150 feet per second, and the lens must neither crack nor come out of the frame.
If you work anywhere with grinding, chipping, striking, or fasteners under load, the plus sign is the part you're actually buying.
The letter codes
Compliant eyewear carries markings for the specific hazards it's rated against:
- D3 — splash and droplet protection
- D4 — dust
- D5 — fine dust, under 5 microns
- U — UV protection, with a scale number
- R — infrared
- L — visible light filtering (tint)
- W — welding, with a shade number
You'll also find the manufacturer's mark. Prescription safety eyewear carries Z87-2 or Z87-2+. All of it has to be permanently marked on the frame or lens — not printed on the packaging, not stated on a website.
How to check a claim
Pick up the glasses and look at the temple arm and the lens. If the marking isn't physically there, the claim isn't verifiable, whatever the listing says. "Meets ANSI standards" in a product description with no marking on the product is not the same as compliance.
Where Luminyx stands
We'll say this plainly, because the industry often doesn't: certification is a process with a timeline, and we're in it. The NFS-1 is designed and engineered to ANSI Z87.1 impact requirements, and certification testing is part of our production schedule. That timeline is also why our pre-order page gives an honest ship window rather than a confident date — safety certification routinely takes longer than anyone plans for, and we would rather tell you that up front than miss a promise later.
When you're comparing any lighted safety eyewear, including ours, ask the same two questions: is it marked, and is it marked Z87+ or just Z87?