You know you can donate plasma for money, and maybe you’ve thought of doing it. Many questions may have popped into your mind: Does it hurt? Can I get rich donating plasma? Now that I’m thinking about donating plasma for cash, have I hit rock bottom?
All good questions, and, no, you haven’t hit rock bottom. It’s a very worthwhile endeavor. So consider this your plasma donation guide, to why you might want to think about donating, the pros and cons and everything else.
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What Is Plasma?
Plasma is a part of everybody’s blood. In fact, over half of your blood is plasma. It’s a yellow-hued portion of your blood that carries water, salt and enzymes. You could think of it as a passenger train in the body, taking nutrients, hormones and proteins wherever they need to go. Plasma also carries the waste products of cells, and plasma carries all parts of the blood through your circulatory system.
As the Red Cross website says, “blood plasma donations are used for slightly more specific purposes than a general blood donation. The most common uses of plasma donations include individuals who have experienced a severe trauma, burn or shock, adults or children with cancer, and people with liver or clotting factor disorders.”
Plasma is also used in medical research.
“There is a critical and ongoing need for human plasma to produce life-saving medicines for people with rare diseases,” says Rachpal Malhotra, a medical doctor and the head of plasma donor safety at CSL Plasma, one of the world’s largest plasma collectors.
“Human plasma is used to produce therapies that treat diseases such as primary immune deficiencies, hereditary angioedema, inherited respiratory disease, hemophilia and other bleeding and neurological disorders,” Malhotra says.
What Does Plasma Donation Involve?
There are a couple things you’ll want to be aware of before you donate plasma.
First of all, it takes time. It’s a longer process to donate plasma than donating blood, which is why plasma donations generally involve being paid for it, and donating blood tends to be something altruistic that you volunteer to do.
Generally, donating plasma is about a 90-minute endeavor, according to many plasma center websites. The first time you do it, expect to be there at least two hours, since there will be a screening process and a relaxing period after your donation.
When you are giving plasma you are technically giving blood, but it’s the specific part of the blood that contains plasma. You’ll be giving about 635 to 800 milliliters of plasma; the human body contains about 3 liters of plasma.
Incidentally, you can donate your plasma much more frequently than blood, which is why your plasma can be profitable. When you donate blood, you have to wait eight weeks before your body is ready to donate again. When you donate plasma, you have to wait at least two days, but then you’re free to give up your plasma again.
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How Much Do You Get for Donating Plasma?
How much you’ll make for donating plasma will vary, depending on what part of the country you’re in and what plasma center you’re using. Some of the bigger plasma donation centers include CSL Plasma, BioLife Plasma Services and Grifols Plasma.
Durin Hendricks is a public relations associate in Washington, D.C., who donated plasma a couple years ago after graduating from college in Indiana and briefly living at home. Hendricks, who went to a BioLife Plasma Service center, earned about a hundred bucks per donation.
Katie Rasure is a travel blogger in Little Rock, Arkansas — and is a regular plasma donor. She earned around the same amount of money, at a Grifols Plasma center.
“I started donating in college, so I could get some extra money to afford things I wanted, so I didn’t have to work. It was something my friends and I all did. I was afraid of needles before, but the money was a good enough incentive for me to give donating plasma a try,” Rasure says.
Rasure says that the local plasma center she uses allows people to go twice a week to donate, and that you can earn up to $800 in the first month.
Rasure stopped donating for a while but started up again after she began her travel blog, Cozy Corners in Our Universe, and the plasma money helps offset some of her travel costs. Generally, she makes around $80 to $110 a week, when she donates twice a week. She gets the payments on a debit card given to her by Grifols; the money is loaded automatically after each donation.
“The process is actually very simple,” Rasure says. “The longest it takes is the first day when you are required to fill out paperwork, get a free physical, test your blood and blood pressure, and then finally donate your plasma. The whole process can take anywhere from two hours to four hours.”
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Are There Risks to Donating Plasma?
Donating plasma is safe if you’re a healthy adult, but there are some risks to consider. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates plasma collection in the United States, some donors “can experience fatigue, bleeding, or dehydration. Additionally, you may feel dizzy or lightheaded. While not typical, fainting can also occur. It’s rare, but more serious infections or reactions can occur, which can be treated.”
Rasure warns that your arm might hurt slightly from having to pump the blood into the machine, and that “when you get the liquids pumped into your body after the whole process is over so you can be rehydrated, it can make you very cold, so everyone brings some sort of blanket or jacket for that.”
She adds that any bruising may last up to a week, and if you’re a regular donor, “you do get a very small circular scar where they put the needle in your arm.”
Hendricks would have donated more than three times but experienced a side effect that kind of soured the experience.
“I was about 15 or so minutes into my plasma donation when I felt like my feet were first falling asleep, which had not happened before, then it shifted from just feeling like they were asleep to feeling like I was being attacked from the inside out,” Hendricks says. “Looking back on it, I felt like I was in a horror movie with something inside my feet crawling around.”
Hendricks alerted a technician, who halted the plasma donation process.
Hendricks later tried to do another plasma donation, but worrying about another odd experience, “decided it was not for me any more.”
But Rasure happily continues to do it. Since she recently began donating plasma, “I’d say I’ve made around $400 total so far, but it’s great and easy money for only about an hour of your time after the initial visit.”
What Else Should I Know About Plasma Donations?
“To donate at a CSL Plasma collection center, donors must be in good health, between the ages of 18 to 74, weigh at least 110 pounds, have no tattoos or piercings within the last four months, meet our eligibility and screening requirements and have valid identification and a permanent address,” Malhotra says.
Other places may have slightly different requirements, but the details Malhotra pointed out are pretty standard.
And, remember: While colloquially we say, “donating plasma,” you are technically selling it, since you are getting money in return.
That means you should “remember to report your earnings on your tax return,” says Jeremy Babener, president of Structured Consulting in Portland, Oregon. Babener specializes in advising businesses on topics such as taxes.
“If you receive more than $600, you’ll get a 1099,” Babener says. He adds that some people have tried taking the IRS to court, arguing that earnings from plasma aren’t taxable. “They lost,” Babener says.
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What to Know About Donating Plasma for Money originally appeared on usnews.com
