A member asked:

I know cancer is not contagious but if someone with cancer in their blood bled on a counter, how long would it take for the cancer cells to die?

2 doctors weighed in across 2 answers

Depends: On the rate of drying, the rate of cooling, the rate at which ph drops from in deeper portions of the drop, and how fast the bacteria multiply. Chances are it's minutes. If you like, you could get with a cell culture lab and use discarded equipment to see how long your own white cells are viable in this setting.

Answered 2/22/2014

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Very short time: Blood cells need nutrition to survive more than a couple of minutes. So unless the blood is kept frozen the cells are dead within 1-2 minutes.

Answered 2/22/2014

4.4k views

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