Question: how is oxygen carried in the blood?
Answer: Oxygen is transported in the blood in two ways: A small amount of O 2 (1.5 percent) is carried in the plasma as a dissolved gas. Most oxygen (98.5 percent) carried in the blood is bound to the protein hemoglobin in red blood cells. A fully saturated oxyhemoglobin (HbO 2) has four O 2 molecules attached.