Excretion in Humans

What is excretion?

Excretion is a process by which the body disposes of metabolic wastes, excess water,
and ions. There are four excretory organs in the human body: lungs, skin, liver, and
kidneys.

Carbon dioxide as an excretory substance:

Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of cellular respiration. It is an acidic gas and it forms

carbonic acid when mixed with water in blood. Carbonic acid is a weak acid and it a ects
the pH of blood if it is allowed to accumulate in blood. Even the slightest changes in the
pH of blood can a ect the rate of metabolism in our bodies by changing enzymatic
reaction rates.
This is why it’s extremely important to remove CO2 from blood consistently.

Blood is a bu er, meaning it maintains a certain pH range. The normal pH range of blood
is around 7.35-7.45. This means some CO2 in the blood will not a ect the pH. However,
the pH range will change if the excess CO2 is not removed.

The lungs are responsible for removing CO2 from blood. The gaseous exchange surface in
the lungs, the alveoli, lets CO2 di use out of the blood and enter the alveolus by simple
di usion. From the alveoli, the air is exhaled out of the lungs.

Because the lungs eliminate CO2 from the body, they are considered one of four types of
excretory organs in the body.

Skin as an excretory organ:

The skin is the largest organ in the body and it plays a crucial role in our survival. The skin
acts as a barrier from the outside world, it helps regulate core body temperature, and it
acts as an excretory organ.
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The skin eliminates excess water and salts from our bodies through sweating, sweat also
contains residual urea which is a toxin.

The liver as an excretory organ:

The liver is the organ that detoxes our blood. Blood contains toxins that accumulate due
to catabolic activity, speci c diets, smoking, taking prescription medicines, etc. The liver
converts some of these toxins into less toxic substances which are then excreted by the
kidneys.

Hemoglobin when broken down turns into a protein called bilirubin, which is the main
constituent of bile. Bille is made in the liver and then stored in the gall bladder. It is
released into the small intestine during fat digestion. Bile emulsi es the fat chunks into
smaller droplets. These droplets have a much larger surface area than large chunks of fat.
The large surface area allows faster and smoother digestion by lipases.

The liver is also responsible for the process of assimilation. Products of digestion, amino
acids, glucose, fatty acids, etc. reach the liver from the intestines via the hepatic portal
vein. The liver releases some of these products into the circulation for body cells to use.
Excess glucose is converted to glycogen and stored in the liver.
Amino acids are used to make new proteins in the liver, the liver makes most of the
body’s proteins. Excess amino acids cannot be stored, this is why these are converted to
sugars by removing the amine group, -NH2 from amino acid molecules. This leaves the R-
COOH still intact, which is then converted to either fats or sugars.
The process of removing -NH2 from amino acids is called deamination.

-NH2 in the liver starts to turn into ammonia, which is extremely poisonous for the body,
this is why the liver converts ammonia to urea. Urea is also poisonous as it causes
oxidative stress on healthy cells, which is why it needs to be excreted.
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 Fig 1: The common structure of an amino acid.

Each amino acid has an R-group that varies, the rest of the amino acid stays the same.
The Amino group of the amino acid is removed from the molecule by the process of
deamination. The rest of the molecule is either turned into glucose or fats, depending on
the needs of the body.

The removed Amino group then turns into ammonia in the liver. Ammonia is highly toxic
and potentially lethal for cells. This is why ammonia is then converted into urea by the
liver. Urea is a less harmful molecule and it’s excreted by the kidneys.

Kidneys as excretory organs:

The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs located in your lower back (back of the
abdomen). The two main functions of the kidneys are to:
• Excrete excess water, excess salts, metabolized drugs, small molecule drugs, urea, and
other metabolic waste products. These wastes are excreted in urine, which is made in
the kidneys.
• Regulate the water content of the blood. Maintaining a steady volume of water is vital
for maintaining blood pressure.

Fig 2: The front view of the human urinary system. (Red vessels: renal arteries, blue
vessels: renal vein)

• Renal arteries and renal veins: Humans have 2 kidneys. The renal arteries carry
oxygenated blood to the kidneys. The renal veins carry deoxygenated blood back to
the heart from the kidneys. The blood in the renal arteries is considered unclean
because it contains all types of excretory wastes. The blood in the renal veins is
considered clean because the excretory materials are removed from the kidneys.
• Ureter: The Ureter is the tube that carries urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder.
• Bladder: Also known as the urinary bladder, this organ stores urine until it lls up.
• Sphincter muscles: These special muscles are located in the junction between the
bladder and the urethra. It controls the opening and closing of this junction.
• Urethra: This tube carries urine to the outside of the body, in other words, it discards
urine from the body.
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 Fig 3: A cross-section of a kidney

• Kidneys: The kidneys are responsible for ltering out waste materials from the blood
and making urine. The structure of the kidneys is shown below.
• Cortex: The outer layer of the kidney, jam-packed with nephrons. Nephrons are
convoluted tubules where blood is ltered to remove wastes and toxins.
• Medulla: Medulla is the layer after the cortex, which contains the tubes that carry the
ltrate to the center of the kidney. The medulla contains the loop of Henle.
• Pelvis: Where all the collecting tubes come together and merge into the ureter.
• Ureter: Carries urine to the bladder.
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The structure and function of the Nephron:

Fig 4: The structure of the nephron in the kidneys.

The Nephron is a tiny tubular structure in the kidney where blood is ltered to remove toxins and
excess water and ions. Each kidney has millions of Nephrons (also known as renal tubules or
kidney tubules). The nephrons start in the cortex of the kidney, then loop down into the medulla,
and then loop back into the cortex. Then the nephrons connect to collecting ducts which carry
urine through to the ureter.

Glomerulus: It is the complex mesh of capillaries where blood is ltered initially. Renal arteries
carry blood to the kidneys. Inside the kidneys, the arteries branch out into tiny blood vessels
called arterioles. These arterioles have a lot of pressure in them, moreover, when they branch out
into small capillaries that lead to the glomerulus, the capillaries get narrower, and the additional
high pressure causes small molecules in blood like water, glucose, urea, and excess ions to lter
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 out of the glomerulus and enter the Bowman’s capsule. This process of ltering blood is called
ultra ltration. The liquid that enters the Bowman’s capsule is called the ltrate.

The Bowman’s capsule: The ltrate that enters the Bowman’s capsule contains glucose, excess
salts, and water which all need to be reabsorbed into the bloodstream. The proximal convoluted
tube cells have a large number of mitochondria which facilitates active transport of glucose from
the ltrate. These glucose molecules are released back into the bloodstream for later use by body
cells.

Water is reabsorbed in the loop of Henle and the collecting duct, whereas salts are re-uptaken
from the loop of Henle. The remaining ltrate becomes urine and is moved to the bladder by the
ureter.

Fig 5: List of substances that are eliminated by the kidneys.

Creatinine is a byproduct of protein digestion and the healthy breakdown of muscle tissue.

Ammonia is a product of deamination, most of the ammonia is converted to urea.

Uric acid is the product of nucleic acid breakdown.
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