Container for blood and blood components

A container for storage of blood or blood components which comprises a flexible, translucent, heat-sterilizable, heat-sealable polymeric substance comprising polyvinyl-chloride plasticized with a mixture comprising a blood extractable plasticizer being present in an amount of 5 to 25 percent by weight, and a plasticizer resistant to blood extraction being present in an amount of 20 to 40 percent by weight, the total amount of plasticizer mixture being sufficient to enhance the gas permeability of the polymeric substance to provide clinically effective levels of platelets stored therein for a period of at least five days and the blood extractable plasticizer being present in an amount sufficient to provide clinically effective levels of unhemolyzed red cells stored therein for a period of at least 35 days without being significantly extracted and without raising the level of extracted plasticizer mixture above about 10 ppm in blood or red cell concentrates stored therein for 35 days, whereby the blood or red cell concentrates are substantially free of said plasticizer mixture.