Storage and blood shelf life: The collected blood is usually stored in a blood bank as separate components, and some of these have short shelf lives. There are no storage solutions to keep platelets for extended periods of time, though some are being studied as of 2008. The longest shelf life used for platelets is seven days. Red blood cells (RBC), the most frequently used component, have a shelf life of 35–42 days at refrigerated temperatures. For (relatively rare) long-term storage applications, this can be extended by freezing the blood with a mixture of glycerol, but this process is expensive and requires an extremely cold freezer for storage. Plasma can be stored frozen for an extended period of time and is typically given an expiration date of one year and maintaining a supply is less of a problem.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 09:37:46 +0000
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