# Veins & blood color

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veins-blood-color/65689>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 17, 2001, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veins-blood-color/65689 "2001-05-17T04:51:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2001, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veins-blood-color/65689/1 "2001-05-17T04:51:25Z")

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After several archive searches(I admit I’m no expert at it), I haven’t found anything to answer the question:

Is the blood in veins blue or red?

I understand that the red blood cells turn red due to the iron in them being sort of oxidized when exposed to oxygen in the bloodstream(or something of that nature) So deoxygenated blood in the veins looses this bright red color, giving veins thier characteristic blue color.

But when they take blood from your vein, it’s always red… and I’ve never known blood to be any other color. I can see blood being red when exposed to the atmosphere, but what about the void of a syringe? Is there really enough O2 in there to oxidize all the blood coming in?  
Blue blood seems far-fetched to me, so perhaps I’ll also add the question what gives veins their blue color?

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2001, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veins-blood-color/65689/2 "2001-05-17T05:18:41Z")

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Oxygenated blood is bright red, deoxygenated blood is dark red. Veins look blue through the skin because some wavelengths of light are absorbed by the skin. See this Staff Report: [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbloodrd.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbloodrd.html)

You can search Cecil’s columns and Staff Reports here: [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/index.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/index.html)

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**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2001, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veins-blood-color/65689/3 "2001-05-18T05:27:37Z")

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thanks for the help… never knew anyone in person who could answer the vein question, now I can appear dreadfully intellegent!!