4. WHY DO SURGEONS WEAR GREEN SCRUBS?

Surgeons used to operate in their suits, then, with awareness of the importance of cleanliness, switched to white aprons. However, this displayed blood more vividly than any colour, so they left operating theatres looking like butchers. In addition, they found that the contrasting colours of red and white were distracting. The solution was blue-green “scrubs”, because blue-green is the complementary colour of red, making blood less visible and preventing optical strain.