It has been proposed that dietary linoleic acid lowers blood pressure (BP) by being converted to arachidonic acid and prostanoids of the two-ene series. We tested the effects of linoleic acid on plasma arachidonic acid, blood pressure, blood viscosity, and RBC cation transport. Oleic acid, the major dietary monounsaturated fat and which is not a prostanoid precursor, was used as a control. Seventeen adults consumed 23 g/d of linoleic acid or oleic acid provided by genetic variants of safflower seed, each for 4 weeks in a double-blind crossover design. Linoleic and oleic acids were enriched significantly in the plasma cholesteryl esters, phospholipids and triglycerides during the respective periods of supplementation but there was no increase in arachidonate. Mean BP was 116.1/76.8 during ingestion of oleic and 113.6/74.6 during ingestion of linoleic acid (p = 0.09 systolic, p = 0.12 diastolic). The power of the study was over 75% for detecting a significant (p less than 0.05) effect of 4 mm Hg in systolic BP or diastolic BP. Whole blood and plasma viscosity, and RBC Li/Na countertransport, Na/K cotransport, and Na pump systems (Vmax) were unchanged during the protocol. Therefore, variations in dietary linoleic or oleic acids are unlikely to have major effects on BP or on several membrane-dependent erythrocyte functions related to hypertension.