Which type of blood vessel is primarily responsible for exchanging nutrients and waste between blood and tissues?
Capillaries
Exchange of materials between blood and body cells needs very thin walls and a large surface in close contact with the tissues, so that substances can diffuse across easily.
Capillaries are the smallest blood vessels and their walls are only one cell thick. Oxygen and nutrients diffuse out of the blood through these walls into the tissues, while carbon dioxide and other wastes diffuse from the tissues into the blood.
Arteries carry blood away from the heart and veins return it to the heart; both have thick walls that do not allow such exchange. Lymphatic vessels carry lymph back to the blood and are not the main site of exchange between blood and tissues.
Hence, Capillaries.
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