What is Excretion?

• Excretion is the process of removing

metabolic wastes.

• The term excretion refers specifically to the

elimination of wastes produced by cellular activity.

• It is not removal of undigested food material!

 Goal: Maintain homeostasis!!

 What is Excretion?
(contd)
• The most important waste products are CO2,
nitrogen compounds, and salts.
• CO2 – produced during cellular respiration
(in addition to water)
• Nitrogen compounds – (ammonia, urea, and
uric acid) produced by the breakdown of
amino acids (protein digestion)
• Salts – produced by metabolism
 Why do we need to excrete Ammonia?

• All organisms produce ammonia as they

metabolize nutrients (protein digestion)

• Ammonia is a nitrogenous waste that is toxic

and must be removed from the body

• How an organism removes ammonia depends

upon where it lives
 Removing Nitrogenous
Waste Products
(1) Ammonia (NH3):

-Requires little energy

-Ammonia is highly toxic!

-This form of waste can only be used if

the organism lives in an aquatic
environment

-Example: Paramecium, protists, some

 Removing Nitrogenous Waste Products

(2) Urea:
- Many land animals and
some bony fish (amphibians,
mammals) dilute the toxic
ammonia with water.
- This substance is called Urea &
is filtered out by the kidneys.
- Requires Energy
 The Mystery behind Bird Poop
• Unlike mammals, birds do not urinate.
• Their kidneys extract nitrogenous wastes from the
bloodstream, and excrete it in the form of uric acid.
• Uric acid has a very low solubility in water, so it
emerges as a white paste.
Deamination in liver
Human Excretion
Where does excretion occur in humans?

Like other animals humans have a system that excretes

Nitrogen wastes as Urea, salt, and water Urinary System:
Kidneys, ureter, urethra, and bladder

Kidneys (located in back) play important role in homeostasis –

- remove waste products from blood
- maintain blood pH
- control water content of blood
How The Kidneys Work
• Blood enters kidneys from
renal artery
• Blood is filtered by passing
through millions of
nephrons
• Wastes pass through ureter
to the bladder as urine
• Clean blood returns to
body through renal vein
• Bladder stores urine and
passes urine out of the
body through the urethra
 Nephrons: How the Body makes Urine

• Your kidneys are

composed of 1 million
cells called Nephrons.

• These long coiled

tubes are where the
blood is actually
filtered and urine is
produced
 The Nephron
• Nephron has three
functions:

1. Glomerular filtration: filter

out water, N-wastes (urea),
salt, glucose, amino acids
2. Tubular reabsorption:
reabsorb materials that the
body still needs (food
molecules, water).
3. Tubular secretion: collect Blood filters through the
kidneys about 6 times a day.
wastes as urine and pass
them to the bladder (urea, 99% of the water is
reabsorbed and not excreted
salts, other substances)
Nephron
Nephron
 Kidney Failure

If renal failure occurs,

people must get their blood filtered through
Dialysis.
 Gout
Is a disease where the human body accumulates Uric
acid in the joints. Heredity, alcohol & kidney failure
lead to this problem.