• Question: does blood go out of date

    Asked by Sundus to Andres, Catherine, Darren, Ellie, Samantha on 15 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Catherine Wigley

      Catherine Wigley answered on 15 Nov 2016:

      It doesn’t go ‘out of date’ as such but it has a shelf life of up to 35 days from donation. After this the blood will be thrown away. This is due to the quality of the red cells dereriating as they are outside of their natural environment and have a lifespan of 120 days in the body.

    • Photo: Andres Olivares del Campo

      Andres Olivares del Campo answered on 15 Nov 2016:

      Interesting Catherine! I always wondered why blood had an “expiration date”!

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