Health & Fitness

Blood is a living tissue made up of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma. The main role of blood in your body is to transport oxygen. It also plays a role in fighting infection, regulating your pH level and temperature, and transporting nutrients and hormones. It also has specialized cells to promote blood clotting.

One factor in blood type — A, B, AB or O — is hereditary and determined by the presence or absence of two antigens, A and B. Your blood type is determined together with a third antigen called Rh factor. Plasma, a mixture of water, protein, fat and salts, is responsible for transporting red blood cells throughout the body.¹

Plasma carries proteins that help maintain your fluid balance, while platelets are small fragments of cells the body uses to help with blood coagulation. When your physician orders a complete blood count (CBC), the report includes information about red blood cells, protein content, white blood cells and platelets. A CBC helps diagnose different conditions.

When donating blood,² you’ll answer multiple questions about your health history to ensure the blood may be safely used. The donation process takes about 1.5 hours for whole blood and two hours for plasma. It is safe to donate whole blood every eight weeks, as your body needs between four and six weeks to complete the replacement process.

Vast Volume of Blood Sent Overseas Despite Deficit in the US

Despite many areas of the U.S. struggling to meet the needs of local residents for blood transfusions, an analysis of the blood market shows the U.S. is a major exporter, providing up to 70% of the world’s plasma.³ The majority of plasma exported from the U.S. goes to European countries.

For example, Germany purchases 15% of all blood products exported by the U.S. followed closely by China and Japan. MintPress News reports this is a result of other countries banning the practice on medical and ethical grounds. Of the 1,000 plasma donation centers located around the world, there are 700 in America.⁴ Many of the donation centers allow people to donate their plasma twice a week.

Vermont is one area the American Red Cross identified as experiencing a critical blood shortage in January 2019.⁵ The blood donation center in Burlington had posted signs offering free donuts and movie tickets, hoping to entice people to give blood.

However, the Red Cross reports a mere 3% of Americans routinely do this. Mary Brant, Red Cross communication manager for Northern New England, explains “the need for blood is constant and varies on a day-to-day basis.” Every day the region must gather 500 units to meet the needs of the regional hospitals.

The Red Cross manages 40% of the U.S. blood supply. To meet the need, they must collect 13,000 donations of whole blood and 2,500 platelet donations every day. But despite shortages in the U.S., blood accounts for “well over 2% of total U.S. exports by value,” according to Mint Press News and the Observatory of Economic Complexity.^6,7,8

Blood Centers Focused in Poor Neighborhoods

The short answer for the blood shortage is money. Plasma is a valuable commodity and based on a growing demand has led to a sharp increase in the number of for-profit collection centers that pay their donors for plasma.⁹

Since the U.S. allows people to sell their blood, they have now become the third largest exporter with global sales skyrocketing from $5 billion to $20 billion in 15 short years.

By 2016, the industry was responsible for 1.6% of the total exports from the U.S. To put this in perspective, the export of human blood is currently worth more than the export of all corn and soy products covering much of America’s Midwestern states.¹⁰ 

However, this industry is built on the backs of poor Americans. Two companies, Grifols and CSL, dominate the market by targeting low socioeconomic groups in large cities across the U.S. In Cleveland, the majority of donors make more than one-third of their money from donating plasma.

Andrew Watkins spoke to Mint Press News. He sold his blood for nearly 18 months in the Pittsburgh area. He commented on the process and how the companies target lower socioeconomic groups:¹¹

“The centers are never in a good part of town, always somewhere they can get a never ending supply of poor people desperate for that hundred bucks a week. The people who show up are a mix of disabled, working poor, homeless, single parents, and college students.

With the exception of the college students who are looking for booze money, this is probably the easiest and most reliable income they have. Your job may fire you at any time when you’re on this level of society, but you always have blood.

And selling your blood doesn’t count as a job or income when it comes to determining disability benefits, food stamps, or unemployment eligibility so it’s a source of money for the people who have absolutely nothing else.”

Leveraging Blood Money for Food and Shelter

The reporter for MintPress News spoke to a number of people who consistently sold their plasma and were fully cognizant of how the system was exploiting their position. However, this exploitation also includes serious health consequences that have not been well-studied.¹²

Losing plasma two times weekly lowers protein count in the blood, leading many donors to an increased risk of liver and kidney dysfunction and more infections. Those who regularly donated reported feeling chronically fatigued and some were bordering on anemia. Payment methods were described as “predatory” as the first payments may be $75 but they are subsequently reduced to $20 to $50.

A combination of chronic donations with variable payments leave many in a permanent state of mental fatigue with bruised and punctured arms. The centers are kept at 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit to protect the plasma. Cooled blood is returned to the donor “in a painful process that feels as if ice is being inserted into the body.”

Exploitation of the poor reaches an all-new low in the clinics along the U.S. Mexican border. Each week, thousands from Mexico cross the border on temporary visas to visit the 43 blood donation centers that prey on these individuals.

MintPress News reports a Swiss documentary identified few checks on blood cleanliness accepted by these for-profit donation centers. One social worker from Georgia commented on the situation in which he found himself:

“I’ve known quite a number of people who rely on money made by selling plasma. A lot of times it’s to cover childcare or prescriptions or something along those lines. It’s absolutely deplorable to leverage literal blood money from people who have so few options.”

Seeking Young Blood: Students Trade Plasma for Books

Big Pharma is also going after students. One campaign from Grifols targets working class students, promising them money for books in exchange for their plasma.¹³ The push for young blood is in high demand in Silicon Valley, where companies are focusing on a push toward antiaging technology.

Despite having no clinical evidence the process works, one company charges $8,000 for an infusion of young blood to aging executives. The co-founder of PayPal, Peter Thiel, has become a committed customer. MintPress News reports he is spending large amounts of money to fund startups focused on antiaging technology.

He has been vocal about “the ideology of the inevitability of the death of every individual,” claiming humans have been conned into believing immortality is not possible and believes his own ability to live eternally is close.

Liver Disease May Drive Thirst for Blood in China

In a report from WinterGreen Research,¹⁴ scientists found high demand in China, where a major cause of death is liver disease. They identified 400 million in China with different liver ailments including viral hepatitis and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Nearly 400 metric tons of serum albumin were consumed in China in 2017, accounting for half of the total global use of serum albumin. While this supply could easily be acquired from those in China, many became afraid to donate after thousands of farmers developed HIV from unsanitary needles used to collect blood in the 1990s.

A result of this is the necessity to import 60% of the needed serum albumin as demand rises with an increasing number getting sick and the Chinese population fearful of donating.

Despite Toxic Chemicals, US May Be One of the Safest Sources

The report identified the quality of blood collected in the U.S. is better than what may be collected in China, giving American companies an edge. However, it is important to note while the U.S. may be one of the safer sources of blood, the notation is made as a comparison against others and not based on an evaluation of the source.

In other words, environmental contaminants in the U.S., including known carcinogens and radioactive substances, are part of your body’s toxic burden passed on with blood and plasma donations. This comes from a wide range of sources, including pesticides found in agriculture and in the home, preservatives, industrial chemicals and wastes, air pollution and building materials.¹⁵

In a report from the Environmental Working Group (EWG),¹⁶ scientists identified more than 1,400 known or likely carcinogenic chemicals to which we are exposed on a daily basis.

In their analysis they found 420 chemicals measured in a diverse population and identified nine in nontrivial levels, exceeding EPA safety standards. Author of the report and senior scientist for EWG, Curt DellaValle, commented on the difficulty of associating exposure to disease:¹⁷

“It’s hard to make the connection between being exposed to something and getting the disease because the disease is going to develop five, 10, 20 years later. I hope something like this raises some awareness that these exposures are out there, there are some dangers generally … and we should work to try and reduce those exposures.”

This toxic load is a real concern as questions about how these chemicals react together have not been answered. The most recent general report by the CDC on exposure to environmental toxins was published in 2009,¹⁸ in which they found detectable levels of 212 chemicals in the blood and urine of participants from across the nation.

Exposure to toxins has not declined, as more are released in personal care products, cleaning supplies and building material without adequate safety testing. Take care to reduce your exposure by using products the EWG has tested safe from their Skin Deep database¹⁹ and consider using nontoxic cleaning products.

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Have our bodies and environments become too clean? For decades, manufacturers of cleaning products and chemicals have scared people into enacting a household version of "germ warfare." If you believe the advertising, no kitchen counter, floor or tub is really clean unless all germs have been annihilated with harsh chemicals.

These same companies also exhort people to over-clean themselves with toxic shampoos, soaps and body washes. Yet, daily bathing only became a practice with the relatively recent invention of indoor plumbing; over 100 years ago, many thought wetting the whole body at once instead of taking sponge baths was dangerous and would invite diseases like pneumonia.

The featured documentary, "Washing Away Health: Navigating Cleanliness, Wellness and Resistance in a Microbial World," from Cleaner World Productions, explores the significant dangers of overcleaning our bodies and environments. These risks range from exposing ourselves to dermatological and respiratory side effects from cleaning products to disrupting our microbiomes and immune systems.

We Are Washing Away Health, Says Revealing Documentary

Excessive cleaning is becoming harmful to ourselves, our homes and our environment. That is the message "Washing Away Health" delivers. In it, experts detail the burgeoning microbial resistance triggered by our obsession with cleanliness, and the surprising health ramifications of being too clean.¹

People who grow up on farms or live in developing countries don’t tend to have the food allergies, asthma or other "First World problems" we see in places that are overcleaning, says Laura Kahn, author of “One Health and the Politics of Antimicrobial Resistance,” who is featured in the video.

The reason may be found in the hygiene hypothesis. If a child is raised in an environment saturated in disinfectant soaps and cleansers, they may not able to build up resistance to disease through normal exposure to dirt and germs. This could explain why many allergies and immune-system diseases have doubled, tripled or even quadrupled in the past few decades — we have become too clean.

Not being exposed to microbes and pathogens can create an excessively clean immune system that can actually begin "attacking itself,” explains Kahn. Sarah Crawford, president of Bio Green Clean,² a company that makes phosphate-, fume- and fragrance-free cleaning products, agrees, saying, "There is something to be said for 'healthy germs’."

Ads Mislead People Into Overcleaning

It is no coincidence that so many people overclean their homes with harmful products — the commercials are everywhere, says Alexandra Scranton, director of science and research at Women’s Voice for the Earth.

“Washing Away Health” shows examples of ads for Lysol and Mr. Clean cleaners that could make anyone think their home is teeming with germs, and that they’re negligent if they don't use a harsh chemical onslaught. In actuality, soap and water are just as effective, the narrator points out.

Similar "fear marketing” was used to sell cleaning products with antibacterial agents, which the FDA has since banned from consumer soaps.³ Adding antibacterial agents to hand, body, dish and laundry soaps and other personal care products did not make them clean any better, but allowed manufacturers to charge more for "new and improved" items.

They tremendously worsened antibiotic resistance and, since soap is “by nature antibacterial” anyway — a point Kahn makes — antibacterial chemicals are redundant.

Consider triclosan, one of the antibacterial agents added to soap and found in Colgate's Total toothpaste until recently.⁴ Triclosan not only contributes to the development of bacterial resistance, but also increases the amount of bisphenol-A (BPA) you absorb when handling thermal receipt paper or other BPA-containing products. According to PubChem, triclosan also has been detected in human breast milk. Additionally, triclosan:⁵

"… might cause spontaneous abortion; probably through inhibition of estrogen sulfotransferase activity to produce placental thrombosis … 

In children, triclosan exposure was associated with allergic sensitization, especially inhalant and seasonal allergens, rather than food allergens. Current rhinitis was associated with the highest levels of triclosan, whereas no association was seen for current asthma.

In the North American bullfrog … exposure to low levels of triclosan thyroid hormone-associated gene expression and can alter the rate of thyroid hormone-mediated postembryonic development.”

According to research published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, triclosan has also been linked to a role in cancer development, possibly due to its estrogen disruption activity.⁶

Resistance, Pollution, Algae and More

The routine and widespread use of antibiotics on factory farms is seen as the primary driver of antibiotic resistance. Because of the extreme crowding of livestock in these concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), antibiotics are used as a "substitute" for cleaning and hygiene, says Kahn.

"These animals did not evolve to live in such crowded facilities," she says: In Scandinavian countries where livestock antibiotics have been phased out, antibiotics resistant bacteria have greatly diminished, showing that a reversal of resistance is indeed possible if you attack it at the source.

In the video, Matthew Wargo, professor of microbiology at the University of Vermont, details factors that affect resistance, such as bacterial competition and how bacteria can confer resistance to each other. A microscope demonstration of such transference is shown in the video.

Excessive cleaning also causes other environmental harm. The single use plastic containers of harsh cleaning products significantly add to global plastic pollution says Martin Wolf, director of product sustainability and authenticity at Seventh Generation, adding that Seventh Generation products are made from recycled materials.

The phosphates in cleaning products also contribute to algae blooms — with huge plumes of discolored water that can lead to fish die-offs and municipalities being forced to cut off water to residents, notes Crawford of Bio Green Clean. Toxic algae is an constant problem in Lake Erie, closing beaches, wrecking tourism, endangering pets and contaminating drinking water.⁷

Cleaning Products More Dangerous Than Many Think

Many don’t give a second thought to cleaning with harsh chemicals, forgetting that when you inhale them or allow them to come into contact with your skin, they will enter your bloodstream directly, bypassing your liver and kidneys, which are part of your natural defense system against toxins.

Also, the more frequently harsh cleaning products are used, the more risks people face, according to medical studies. For example, a 2017 study found that nurses who used disinfectants once a week or more had up to a 32% higher risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than those who didn't.⁸

Even if you not do not personally use harsh cleaning products, the buildings they are used in are also made unsafe, “Washing Away Health” points out. Ventilation systems do not completely remove the chemicals, either, warns Carol Westinghouse, president and founder of Informed Green Solutions.

Crawford says harsh cleaners can even be deadly: She recounts hearing stories of cats that, having walked across floors cleaned with Swiffer WetJet, died after licking their paws. Fragrance added to cleaning products, even when natural, can also be harmful, says Wolf.

Less Washing Can Bring Back Balance

Overtreating bacteria, viruses and even fungi results in disruption of natural environments and a paradoxical resistance to the very cleaning products supposed to eradicate them, according to the experts in "Washing Away Health."

A similar phenomenon occurs with personal care items. The natural, beneficial bacteria that live on human skin and the sebum on our hair are also disrupted by excessive cleansing. Our microbiomes and immune systems are also compromised by overcleansing.  

While manufacturers of personal care products have convinced people they will smell awful or will be offensive without the use of their harsh products, the opposite is actually true. It’s primarily overcleansing that causes odor-causing bacteria to overgrow, as it disrupts your body's natural systems of balance.

All of that said, there are instances in which germ vigilance is required. Cuts, for example, need to be properly cleaned, and disinfecting food preparation areas is a good idea. Medical facilities also need to be vigilant about cleanliness and disinfection. In our day-to-day lives, however, we should not go overboard.

Solutions From ‘Washing Away Health’

There are several encouraging trends highlighted in “Washing Away Health” that imply the problem of "too much cleanliness" is being addressed. Michelle Thompson, an industrial hygienist at the Vermont Department of Health, says the Envision Program was created in Vermont in 2000 to create healthier, safer schools with fewer asthma triggers. In 2012, Act 125, a green cleaning law, was passed in Vermont.

Westinghouse speculates that steam cleaning will begin to replace harsh chemical cleaners. Already, she says, there are portable steam cleaners that can be used commercially or residentially. Kahn thinks there is great promise in the use of viruses called bacteriophages to clean. As explained by the Leibniz Institute, phages:⁹

"… exclusively attack bacteria and lyse them ('bacteria eaters'). Phages cannot reproduce alone by themselves, they require the bacterial cell as a host to reproduce within the host ...

After adsorption to the bacterial surface, the phage injects its nucleic acid into the bacterium that will now be forced to produce a new phage generation by using the bacterial enzyme equipment.

One single bacterial cell produces such an enormous number of new phages that the pressure forces the bacterium to burst. The phages will immediately kill other bacteria with a surface matching with the phage."

To prevent further antibiotic resistance, all the experts featured in “Washing Away Health” stress the importance of not demanding antibiotics from a doctor or using antibiotics for nonbacterial infections. They also urge you to vote with your wallet. Do not buy risky cleaning products that overclean and wash away health.

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