Urban Myth or Truth: human blood is blue when inside the body and turns red only when it reacts with air?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

myth

Answer 2

blood is red as soon as it is oxygenated. Blue blood flows through veins back to the heart and lungs.....

Answer 3

it depends on if it's in veins or in your arteries..

human blood is blue when it's filled with Carbon Dioxide

Answer 4

true blue blood is oxygen depleted.

Answer 5

depends where it is. if its carrying oxygen its red, if not its blue

Answer 6

Untrue

Answer 7

true

Answer 8

When blood gets oxygen it turns red but in your veins it is blue just look at them.

Answer 9

true blood is blue when theres no oxygen present red when there is

Answer 10

Myth, it's always red. It goes a darker red, purple-like (Some call it blue) when starved of Oxygen.

Answer 11

thats the truth

Answer 12

Truth

Answer 13

Somewhat true. Blood is very bright red when it is in the pulmonary vein in the lungs, when it is highly oxygenated. During it's journey back to the heart after circulating through the body, it is a little blue when it is deoxygenated, but more of a maroon-blue mix.

This is the truth.

Source(s):

Med-Student

Answer 14

Truth! Blood is blue until it mixes with oxygen then it turns red.

Answer 15

Yes it is true.It only turns red when it hits oxygen.Pretty cool.

Answer 16

Partially true. It's blue when being carried back to the lungs and red after the visit and has been re-oxygenated.

Answer 17

!@#$%^&*()Mayne ur blood is only blue when you eat too many flaminz~!@#$%^&*()_

Source(s):

iM A *****

Answer 18

its a myth. blood is red. veins are blue

Answer 19

Ive heard that one, Im guessing its because sometimes our viens can look blue from outside the skin (varicose veins comes to mind) My sister was told that it was true by a nurse, but years later when I asked a dialysis nurse she laughed . So who knows?

Answer 20

That's a myth. Human blood is NEVER blue! There may be instances when it could have a slight blueish tint, but blood is ALWAYS red.

Answer 21

I always thought that it was true that blood became red after it reacted with air, and it was blue inside the body. My wife just took an anatomy and physiology class (she's studying to be a nurse) and she just told me the other day that it was a myth.

She said the reason why people think it is blue is because of the color of the veins. So don't believe anyone who is telling you different.

Answer 22

Myth. Probably originated from the fact that veins look blue when people look at them through their skin! However, all blood is definately red, whether in contact with oxygen or not.

Answer 23

It's true.

Source(s):

http://www.childrenheartinstitute.org/ed…

Answer 24

Blood is a specialized bodily fluid (technically a tissue) that is composed of a liquid called blood plasma and blood cells suspended within the plasma. The blood cells present in blood are red blood cells (also called RBCs or erythrocytes), white blood cells (including both leukocytes and lymphocytes) and platelets (also called thrombocytes). Plasma is predominantly water containing dissolved proteins, salts and many other substances; and makes up about 55% of blood by volume. Mammals have red blood, which is bright red when oxygenated, due to hemoglobin. Hint: if homo sapiens are reptiles what color would their blood be?

I should know.I'm a vampire. Bloody hell!

Source(s):

wikipedia

Answer 25

myth
blue blooded fellows are lazy and lethargic ,
while red blooded are energetic
Blood becomes blue when it has lost its vitality

Answer 26

This is a myth. Human blood is always red, the bluish color that one sees looking at a blood vessel is from the tissues around it. The blue and red colors are used to represent veins and arteries respectively, to make it easier to visualize in a diagram, but the blood in those veins is still a red color.

Source(s):

Science major and nurse for 30+ years

Answer 27

Half-true.

The purpose of your blood is to carry oxygen from the air in your lungs to your entire body. Oxygen gets carried in your blood in red blood cells, specifically on a chemical (actually a "protein") called "hemoglobin."

When hemoglobin is carrying oxygen, it's chemical properties change and it gives your blood the reddish color you see when you cut your leg. When it is not carrying oxygen, hemoglobin gives your blood a bluish tint (it's not blue like the sky, but closer to a dark purple).

Every part of your body needs oxygen, but your brain and your muscles are by far the largest consumers of oxygen. The path of your blood is this:

1. Oxygenated (red) blood starts at the left side heart, and is pumped throughout arteries the body, which are deep under the skin and hard to see.

2. Tissues like your brain and muscles use the oxygen to do tasks, like think or lift a book.

3. The blood is now deoxygenated (blue) and returns to the right side of the heart through veins.

4. The blue blood is pumped to the lungs, where it gets oxygenated and turns red.

5. The blood returns to the left side of the heart and begins the cycle again.

Thus, blood is both red and blue when it is inside the body, depending on how much oxygen it has. In fact, if you've ever been seriously injured, hospitals have a device called a "blood oxymeter," which can measure the color of your blood and therefore how much oxygen is in it.

Blood is ALWAYS red OUTSIDE the body (like a bleeding cut) because there is oxygen in the air which will bind to hemoglobin and make it red.

Answer 28

I am absolutely staggered by the number of people who actually believe that deoxygenated blood is blue.

No, human blood is *never* blue.

Even when totally depleted of oxygen, it becomes a dark red colour (some might call it maroon). If you were to see a car or a paint strip that colour, you would say it was red.

Fully oxygenated (arterial) blood is bright red. Depleted (venous) blood is dark red. NOT blue.

The only time blood is ever blue is in mollusks and some arthropods, which utilize copper in the molecule that carries oxygen to the their tissues (hemocyanin), instead of iron as vertebrates do (hemoglobin).

The veins through your skin only look blue because of diffusion of the light while passing through layers of tissue. In actuality, they're more of a greyish, white colour. You don't normally see arteries through the skin because they tend to be buried deeper in the tissues, but they're pretty much the same colour (but thicker walled, with higher blood pressure).

The idea that human blood is blue is absolutely a myth.

Source(s):

http://www.globalclassroom.org/blublud.h…
http://medical-dictionary.thefreediction…
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mblo…

Answer 29

Myth. Human blood is always red. Two ways to prove this:

Donate blood. The blood is taken directly from a vein and never hits oxygen, yet is a deep maroon.
Hold a flashlight to the palm of your hand and look at the back of it. Red. No blue blood shines through; because it doesn't exist (unless you're a horseshoe crab).

Our veins appear blue through our skin because of the way our skin color cancels out red, hence why you can't usually see arteries.

Answer 30

It's a myth. Veins in the skin appear blue for a variety of reasons only weakly dependent on the colour of the blood. Light scattering in the skin, and the visual processing of colour play roles as well. blood is continuously red ranging from bright red when oxidised to dark red when free of oxygen.

Answer 31

myth as the colour depends on the pigment attached to haem group inside RBC.