SerinaRoberts

EXCRETION
Excretion is the process by which waste and
harmful substances, produced by chemical
reactions occurring inside body cells, i.e. the
body’s metabolism, are removed from the
body
• Excretion is important in living organisms because many waste
products are harmful and if these build up in cells, they damage
and kill the cells.
• Excretion must not be confused with egestion which is the
removal of undigested dietary fibre and other materials from the
body as faeces.
• This dietary fibre is not produced in the body’s metabolism, so
its removal cannot be classed as excretion.
 PRODUCTS EXCRETED BY PLANTS
Plants produce the following waste substances during metabolism:
• Oxygen is produced in photosynthesis and is excreted during the
day when the rate of photosynthesis is higher than the rate of
respiration.
• Carbon dioxide is produced in respiration and is excreted during
the night when no photosynthesis is occurring.
• Water is produced in respiration and is excreted during the night
when no photosynthesis is occurring.
• Organic waste products such as tannins, alkaloids, anthocyanins,
and salts of organic acids such as calcium oxalate.
MECHANISMS OF EXCRETION IN PLANTS
Plants, unlike animals, do not have any specialised excretory organs.

• Oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapour diffuse out through the stomata of leaves
and lenticels of bark-covered stems and roots.

• Organic waste products can be stored in dead, permanent tissue, e.g. heart wood.
They can also be converted to insoluble substances such as oils or insoluble
crystals, e.g. excess calcium ions combine with the waste product, oxalic acid,
to form calcium oxalate crystals.

In this insoluble form, they do not affect osmotic and metabolic processes in
cells and can be stored in the cells of leaves, bark, petals, fruits and
seeds. They are then removed when the plant sheds these structures
PRODUCTS EXCRETED BY ANIMALS
Animals produce the following waste substances during metabolism:

• Carbon dioxide is produced in respiration.

• Water is produced in respiration.

• Nitrogenous compounds are produced by the deamination of amino acids in the

liver, e.g. urea, ammonia which is very toxic, and uric acid which is the least
toxic.

• Bile pigments, e.g. bilirubin, are produced by the breakdown of haemoglobin from
red blood cells in the liver.

• Heat is produced in general metabolism.

EXCRETORY ORGANS IN HUMANS
Humans have several organs that excrete waste products.

• The kidneys excrete water, nitrogenous waste (mainly urea) and salts as urine.

• The lungs excrete carbon dioxide and water vapour during exhalation

• The skin excretes water, urea and salts as sweat. It also excretes heat

• The liver excretes bile pigments. It also makes nitrogenous waste.

THE KIDNEYS AND EXCRETION IN
HUMANS
• Humans have two kidneys that form part of the urinary system.

• Each kidney is divided into three regions: an outer region called the cortex, an
inner region called the medulla, and a central hollow region called the pelvis.

• A renal artery carries blood to each kidney and a renal vein carries blood away.
Each kidney is composed of thousands of kidney tubules or nephrons that
produce urine. Each nephron begins with a cup-shaped Bowman’s capsule in the
cortex which surrounds an intertwined cluster of capillaries called a
glomerulus.
After the Bowman’s capsule, each nephron is divided into three sections:
• The first convoluted (coiled) tubule in the cortex.
• The loop of Henle in the medulla.
• The second convoluted (coiled) tubule in the cortex.

An arteriole, which branches from the renal artery, leads into each
glomerulus. Each nephron has a network of blood capillaries wrapped around it
which leads from the glomerulus and joins into a venule which leads into the
renal vein. Nephrons join into collecting ducts in the cortex and these ducts
lead through the medulla and out into the pelvis.
Urine is produced in the nephrons by two processes:

• ultra-filtration or pressure filtration

• selective reabsorption.