Chapter 3-Excretion

1) Metabolism includes all chemical

reactions that take place in the body.
(a) During metabolism activities, cells in
the body take in water, oxygen and digested
food, and produce waste products such as
carbon dioxide, water and urea.
(b) Metabolism waste products are not
needed by the body cells and must be
removed from our body.
2) Excretion is the removal of metabolic
waste products from the body.

Excretory organs and excretory products

The skin excretes water, mineral salts

and some urea when a person perspires or
sweats.
(a) Sweat is salty.
(b) From the sweat glands just below the
skin, water, mineral salts and urea travel
along the sweat ducts (Figure 3.2).
(c) They are removed through the sweat
pores on the surface of the skin.
2) The body sweats more on a hot day. The
evaporation of sweat cools the skin and the
body.
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3) During respiration, waste products such

as carbon dioxide and water are produced.
4) These are removed from the lungs during
gaseous exchange. The lungs are also
excretory organs.
5) The kidneys, the main human excretory
organ, removes urea. Urea is a waste
product formed in the liver from excess
amino acids in the body. Urea is removed in
urine. Besides urea, urine also contains
water and mineral salts.

The importance of excretion

Why must waste products be excreted?
Wastes are by-products of the chemical
processes in the body.
2. (a) If these wastes accumulate in the body,
they become toxic.
(b) We will be ill. Some organs may be
damaged.
(c) If an illness persists, death can take
place.
(d) Waste products must be eliminated
through excretion in order to maintain a
healthy body.
3) Carbon dioxide from respiration must be
quickly removed. A high level of this gas
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4) Urea, if left in excess in the body, is toxic to the
body.
5) By removing excess water and mineral salts,
the kidneys help maintain the chemical
composition, water and pH balance of the body.
6) The kidneys are located in the back of the
abdominal cavity.
7) The liver removes excess amino acids from the
blood by converting them into urea which is
excreted by the kidneys.
8) The urea is sent to the urinary system. The flow
of the urea into urinary system starts from the
kidneys through the ureters to the bladder, and
lastly to the urethra. From urethra, it removed as
urine through the penis or opening.

The structure of kidney

The functions of kidney

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2.
3.

4.

The blood vessel that brings blood

containing waste products to the kidneys
is the renal artery.
The blood vessel that carries 'clean' blood
away from the kidneys is the renal vein.
Substances that pass from the blood into
the kidneys are urea, glucose amino
acids, mineral salts and water.
Protein cannot pass from the blood into the
kidneys. The protein molecules are too
large.

Substances which are reabsorbed

into the blood from the kidneys are
glucose and amino acids. Both
these substances are not found in the
urine. These substances are required
by the body. Glucose is an energy
source and amino acids are needed
for body building.

A high intake of salt will affect the

water balance. It will also cause
hypertension. A high concentration
of salt in the blood may lead to the
formation of kidney stones. Kidney
stones can result in kidney failure.
Too much sugar in our blood will
ultimately cause diabetes.
We should avoid taking all kinds of
drugs and unprescribed medicines
and food that can damage the
kidneys.

Dialysis

Dialysis is a technique of separating

particles of different sizes. A liquid mixture
is passed through a partially permeable
membrane.
During dialysis, the blood is filtered through
an artificial membrane in a dialysis
machine.

This is how a dialysis machine works.

(a) The dialysis machine works on the principle
of diffusion. Substances move from an area of
high concentration to an area of low
concentration across a partially permeable
membrane. This is similar to a Visking tube.
(b) A tube is connected to an artery in the arm
of a patient. This allows the blood to flow along
the tube and enter the dialysis machine (Figure
3.7).
(c) Blood from the artery flows through the
semi-permeable membrane of the tube in a
dialyser.
(d) These tubes are immersed in a dialysis
solution called dialysale.

(e) Waste products such as excess water, urea,

mineral salts and other impurities diffuse out
from the blood through the pores of the semipermeable membrane into the dialysate.
(f) They are removed by the flowing dialysate
in the dialyser.
(g) Proteins and blood cells which are too big
to pass through the membrane remain in the
blood.
(h) The blood with the waste products
removed goes back into the vein of the patient.

1) (a) A patient's blood must pass through the

dialysis machine many times to make sure
that all wastes are removed.
(b) As such, the patient must be connected
to the machine for about four hours. Dialysis
treatments are usually needed two or three
times a week.
2) Dialysis treatments are not cheap. In
addition, the limbs are painful from the
repeated use of needles.
3) Dialysis does not cure damaged kidneys. It
is only an artificial substitute for the kidneys.