Plasma: Red blood cell contamination

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Example(s) of typical appearance
Example(s) of a change in appearance

RBC contamination occurs during production and results from ineffective separation of RBCs and plasma. When significant RBC contamination occurs during production, these units are discarded and are not distributed. The degree of red discolouration in a plasma unit reflects the amount of RBC contamination varying from a light pink tinge to a marked red discolouration. Currently, there are no standards of acceptability for RBC contamination of plasma units.