The published specifications of the acceptable limits of the maximum plasma
volume to be ‘harvested’ by plasmapheresis from one individual per year vary from 10-15 liters
in Europe to 50-60 liters in the United States. To answer the question which of these widely
diverging precepts is appropriate, the effects of plasmapheresis on serum protein levels and
their relationship to albumin metabolism, the accepted safeguards for the donation of whole
blood, and the disease known as the nephrotic syndrome are considered. A living person who
consents to his bodily integrity being violated for the benefit of others must be protected not
only against the generation of manifest illness by such violation, but also against any prolonged
deviation from the normal state of his body. It is concluded that plasmapheresis donors should
not deliver more than 10 to 15 liters of plasma per year, as now recommended by European
authorities. Not more than 500 ml of plasma should be withdrawn per session, and the interval
between two such sessions should not be less than 2 weeks.