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Everyone has red blood cells. You could not live otherwise.

When someone says 'blue blood' they are speaking metaphorically or comparatively.

There is a common misunderstanding about the color of blood that unfortunately actually sometimes is passed along by elementary school Biology teachers who are not up to date. Your blood is never blue, always shades of red.

When arterial blood leaves the lungs to circulate through the body, it has just a little bit more oxygen in it than does venous blood. The reason it appears bright red is that the combination of iron, oxygen, and hemoglobin absorbs higher energy wavelength light (blue and green) which leaves the red wavelengths available for our eyes to sense.

The venous blood is never blue, it is a darker color of red than arterial blood, not blue. The color is a burgundy red or maroon color. Blood is bright red in the arteries and dark red in the veins. The reason venous blood is a darker red can be partially attributed to the slightly less oxygen in the blood in the veins. But its color change is more due to the "waste" it carries away from the body tissues and back to the kidneys for filtering and elimination. This "waste" darkens the red color of the blood (think of it as a little like dirty dish water).

Although a popular belief, being in contact with air does not cause venous blood to instantly oxygenate and turn red. It is red outside the body because it is red inside the body as well. When you look at unopened veins inside the body, in endoscopy, for example, they are a dark red color.

The blue appearance of the veins that you see when looking at them through the skin is not caused by blue venous blood. As explained, that is always red. The blue appearance is caused by a reflective factor of the skin itself. It is an optical property of the reflection of light off light colored skin and the difference in that reflection from the veins under the skin (but near the surface). That reflective process is complex, but the blue-looking veins are mostly all about the skin and reflection.

If arteries were not too deep to be visible through the skin, then they, too, would have a blueish appearance, the same as the veins for the same reasons.

The blue color of cyanotic lips and skin is not because the blood is blue.

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Q: Is blood blue if you did not have red blood cells?
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Continue Learning about Natural Sciences

What color blood cells bring oxygen to cells an take carbon dioxide away?

The Red Blood Cells remove wastes from your cells.


Is it possible to have blue blood?

There are no blue blood cells. Blood cells are either red cells or white cells. Red cells are a very pale red when seen individually, but make blood look red when there are millions of them together. White blood cells are actually colourless. They are stained with various stains to make then visible under the microscope. See http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/general/body_basics/blood.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BloodBlue blood cells are cells that are not oxygenated. In other words, blood that runs through your body that have not reached oxygen take the color of blue.


Are red cells found in other organism?

Yes, all vertebrates (e.g. fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds) have red blood cells. There are probably other organisms that also have red blood cells. However insects and several other invertebrates have a blue copper based blood instead of the red iron based blood of vertebrates. Bur they do not have blue blood cells as the copper based compound these organisms is free in the blood instead of contained inside cells.


What is the protein found in red blood cells that give blood its color?

iron. the blood contains iron and when you breathe, you give oxygen to it. so your blood is red pretty much because of oxidized iron. the red blood cells take the oxygen through the body and when it is deposited the blood turns blue, that's why the veins in your wrist are blue.


What cell transports oxygen?

red blood cells

Related questions

Does blood contain red blood cells and blue blood cells?

In relation to the human body, it is a common misconception that blood is blue; all blood is red. The blue appearance is due to the connective tissues of the blood vessels. Blood cells can be either erythrocytes, which are red, or leukocytes, which are white. When blood is oxygenated it is a much brighter red than de-oxygenated blood.


What color blood cells bring oxygen to cells an take carbon dioxide away?

The Red Blood Cells remove wastes from your cells.


Are there three types of blood cells - red blood cells and white blood cells and blue blood cells?

No. There are no blue blood cells. There are only white blood cells (lymphocytes) and red blood cells(erythrocytes).


Are there only red white and blue blood cells in a persons body?

Yes, except for the blue. It's a human, not the flag.


Do you have blue blood cells?

No, only red and white.


How many red cells are in a drop of blood?

One microliter of blood contains approximately 5 million red blood cells.


Why are your blood cells red?

Your Blood cells contain Iron which is red there is a animal that uses copper sulphate instead of iron so that's why its blood is blue!


What color are blood cells?

De-oxygenated human blood is NOT blue. Blood in veins is NOT blue. Human blood is ALWAYS red regardless of whether it is venous or arterial blood, regardless of whether it is oxygenated or deoxygenated, regardless of whether it is inside the body or outside the body. Human blood is red. Period. Veins appear blue from outside the skin because of the way light interacts with skin and blood - NOT because blood is blue in color.


Is the color red really the color of blood?

By most mammals it's red. The blue color of the veins can be explained by the fact that you see your veins through your skin, your skin works like a sort of color filter, but the blood is always red


Is it possible to have blue blood?

There are no blue blood cells. Blood cells are either red cells or white cells. Red cells are a very pale red when seen individually, but make blood look red when there are millions of them together. White blood cells are actually colourless. They are stained with various stains to make then visible under the microscope. See http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/general/body_basics/blood.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BloodBlue blood cells are cells that are not oxygenated. In other words, blood that runs through your body that have not reached oxygen take the color of blue.


Are red blood cells found in other organism?

Yes, all vertebrates (e.g. fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds) have red blood cells. There are probably other organisms that also have red blood cells. However insects and several other invertebrates have a blue copper based blood instead of the red iron based blood of vertebrates. Bur they do not have blue blood cells as the copper based compound these organisms is free in the blood instead of contained inside cells.


Are red cells found in other organism?

Yes, all vertebrates (e.g. fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds) have red blood cells. There are probably other organisms that also have red blood cells. However insects and several other invertebrates have a blue copper based blood instead of the red iron based blood of vertebrates. Bur they do not have blue blood cells as the copper based compound these organisms is free in the blood instead of contained inside cells.