First, I'll assume that you don't and can't bypass the statement. The journal isn't going to go along with that.

Second, while this may be an edge case, the line needs to be drawn somewhere and it has been decided that the line is drawn in the most conservative place so that you don't need to make judgements in every case.

Third, there are issues that you aren't considering. While it is your blood and you certainly give permission, there are protocols for handling blood that treat it, properly, as a bio-hazard. Researchers (and medical personnel) who deal with this a lot know the risks and take proper precautions. But you haven't, apparently, indicated that you took those precautions yourself, thinking of them as trivial.

Fourth, it seems like you didn't deal with your institutions IRB (or equivalent) or you would have been told of these issues and how to avoid them. You may be able to go to them now and get the appropriate authorization for what previously happened, but I would guess they might well object.

Finally, I suggest that you abandon the current paper for now, redo the experiment under proper protocols and then re-write it (copying essentially everything from the current version) and then re-submit it with a complete accounting of the experiment. User Anyon suggested using another lab (after getting ok from IRB). Another option would be to (with IRB permission) elicit help from a physician or medical lab to aid in obtaining specimens and dealing with any waste.

First, I'll assume that you don't and can't bypass the statement. The journal isn't going to go along with that.

Second, while this may be an edge case, the line needs to be drawn somewhere and it has been decided that the line is drawn in the most conservative place so that you don't need to make judgements in every case. The reason for conservatism here is the potentially harmful result of getting it wrong - from HIV to Ebola.

Third, there are issues that you aren't considering. While it is your blood and you certainly give permission, there are protocols for handling blood that treat it, properly, as a bio-hazard. Researchers (and medical personnel) who deal with this a lot know the risks and take proper precautions. But you haven't, apparently, indicated that you took those precautions yourself, thinking of them as trivial.

Fourth, it seems like you didn't deal with your institutions IRB (or equivalent) or you would have been told of these issues and how to avoid them. You may be able to go to them now and get the appropriate authorization for what previously happened, but I would guess they might well object.

Finally, I suggest that you abandon the current paper for now, redo the experiment under proper protocols and then re-write it (copying essentially everything from the current version) and then re-submit it with a complete accounting of the experiment. User Anyon suggested using another lab (after getting ok from IRB). Another option would be to (with IRB permission) elicit help from a physician or medical lab to aid in obtaining specimens and dealing with any waste.