Metabolic wastes or excrements are substances left over from

metabolic Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cel ...

processes (such as

cellular respiration Cellular respiration is the process by which biological fuels are oxidised in the presence of an inorganic electron acceptor such as oxygen to produce large amounts of energy, to drive the bulk production of ATP. Cellular respiration may be des ...

) which cannot be used by the

organism In biology, an organism () is any life, living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy (biology), taxonomy into groups such as Multicellular o ...

(they are surplus or

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subs ...

), and must therefore be

excreted Excretion is a process in which metabolic waste is eliminated from an organism. In vertebrates this is primarily carried out by the lungs, kidneys, and skin. This is in contrast with secretion, where the substance may have specific tasks after lea ...

. This includes

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at seve ...

compounds,

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

, CO₂,

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...

s, sulphates, etc.

Animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

s treat these compounds as excretes.

Plant Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...

s have

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...

"machinery" which transforms some of them (primarily the nitrogen compounds) into useful substances. All the metabolic wastes are excreted in a form of

solutes through the excretory organs (

nephridia The nephridium (plural ''nephridia'') is an invertebrate organ, found in pairs and performing a function similar to the vertebrate kidneys (which originated from the chordate nephridia). Nephridia remove metabolic wastes from an animal's body. Neph ...

, Malpighian tubules,

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; bloo ...

s), with the exception of CO₂, which is excreted together with the

water vapor (99.9839 °C) , - , Boiling point , , - , specific gas constant , 461.5 J/( kg·K) , - , Heat of vaporization , 2.27 MJ/kg , - , Heat capacity , 1.864 kJ/(kg·K) Water vapor, water vapour or aqueous vapor is the gaseous p ...

throughout the lungs. The elimination of these compounds enables the chemical

homeostasis In biology, homeostasis (British English, British also homoeostasis) Help:IPA/English, (/hɒmɪə(ʊ)ˈsteɪsɪs/) is the state of steady internal, physics, physical, and chemistry, chemical conditions maintained by organism, living systems. Thi ...

of the organism.

Nitrogen wastes

The nitrogen compounds through which excess nitrogen is eliminated from organisms are called nitrogenous wastes () or nitrogen wastes. They are

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogeno ...

urea Urea, also known as carbamide, is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest amide of carbamic acid. Urea serves an important ...

uric acid Uric acid is a heterocyclic compound of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen with the formula C5H4N4O3. It forms ions and salts known as urates and acid urates, such as ammonium acid urate. Uric acid is a product of the metabolic breakdown ...

, and

creatinine Creatinine (; ) is a breakdown product of creatine phosphate from muscle and protein metabolism. It is released at a constant rate by the body (depending on muscle mass). Biological relevance Serum creatinine (a blood measurement) is an import ...

. All of these substances are produced from protein metabolism. In many animals, the

urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and in many other animals. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder. Urination results in urine being excreted from the body through the urethra. Cellular ...

is the main route of

excretion Excretion is a process in which metabolic waste is eliminated from an organism. In vertebrates this is primarily carried out by the lungs, kidneys, and skin. This is in contrast with secretion, where the substance may have specific tasks afte ...

for such wastes; in some, it is the

feces Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a rela ...

Ammonotelism

Ammonotelism is the excretion of ammonia and ammonium ions. Ammonia (NH₃) forms with the oxidation of amino groups.(-NH₂), which are removed from the proteins when they convert into carbohydrates. It is a very toxic substance to tissues and extremely soluble in water. Only one nitrogen atom is removed with it. A lot of water is needed for the excretion of ammonia, about 0.5 L of water is needed per 1 g of nitrogen to maintain ammonia levels in the excretory fluid below the level in body fluids to prevent toxicity. Thus, the marine organisms excrete ammonia directly into the water and are called ammonotelic. Ammonotelic animals include

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...

s, platyhelminths,

cnidarian Cnidaria () is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in Fresh water, freshwater and Marine habitats, marine environments, predominantly the latter. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocyt ...

porifera Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate throug ...

ns,

echinoderm An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the s ...

s, and other aquatic invertebrates.

Ureotelism

The excretion of urea is called ureotelism. Land animals, mainly amphibians and mammals, convert ammonia into urea, a process which occurs in the

liver The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it ...

and kidney. These animals are called ureotelic. Urea is a less toxic compound than ammonia; two nitrogen atoms are eliminated through it and less water is needed for its excretion. It requires 0.05 L of water to excrete 1 g of nitrogen, approximately only 10% of that required in ammonotelic organisms.

Uricotelism

Uricotelism is the excretion of excess nitrogen in the form of

. Uricotelic animals include

insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s and most reptiles. Though requiring more metabolic energy to make than urea, uric acid's low toxicity and low solubility in water allow it to be concentrated into a small volume of pasty white suspension in feces, compared to the liquid urine of mammals. Notably however, great apes and humans, while ureotelic, are also uricotelic to a small extent, with uric acid potentially causing problems such as

kidney stones Kidney stone disease, also known as nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis, is a crystallopathy where a solid piece of material (kidney stone) develops in the urinary tract. Kidney stones typically form in the kidney and leave the body in the urine s ...

and

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of a red, tender, hot and swollen joint, caused by deposition of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intens ...

, but also functioning as a blood antioxidant.

Water and gases

These compounds form during the

catabolism Catabolism () is the set of metabolic pathways that breaks down molecules into smaller units that are either oxidized to release energy or used in other anabolic reactions. Catabolism breaks down large molecules (such as polysaccharides, lipids ...

of carbohydrates and

lipid Lipids are a broad group of naturally-occurring molecules which includes fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids incl ...

s in condensation reactions, and in some other metabolic reactions of the amino acids. Oxygen is produced by plants and some bacteria in photosynthesis, while CO₂ is a waste product of all animals and plants. Nitrogen gases are produced by denitrifying bacteria and as a waste product, and bacteria for decaying yield ammonia, as do most invertebrates and vertebrates. Water is the only liquid waste from animals and photosynthesizing plants."excretion." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010.

Solids

Nitrate Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula . Salts containing this ion are called nitrates. Nitrates are common components of fertilizers and explosives. Almost all inorganic nitrates are soluble in water. An example of an insoluble ...

s and

nitrite The nitrite ion has the chemical formula . Nitrite (mostly sodium nitrite) is widely used throughout chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The nitrite anion is a pervasive intermediate in the nitrogen cycle in nature. The name nitrite also re ...

s are wastes produced by

nitrifying bacteria Nitrifying bacteria are chemolithotrophic organisms that include species of genera such as '' Nitrosomonas'', '' Nitrosococcus'', '' Nitrobacter'', '' Nitrospina'', '' Nitrospira'' and '' Nitrococcus''. These bacteria get their energy from the oxid ...

, just as sulfur and sulfates are produced by the sulfur-reducing bacteria and sulfate-reducing bacteria. Insoluble iron waste can be made by iron bacteria by using soluble forms. In plants, resins, fats, waxes, and complex organic chemicals are exuded from plants, e.g., the latex from rubber trees and milkweeds. Solid waste products may be manufactured as organic pigments derived from breakdown of pigments like hemoglobin, and inorganic salts like carbonates, bicarbonates, and phosphate, whether in ionic or in molecular form, are excreted as solids.

s dispose of solid waste as

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metabolic Waste Excretion Metabolism Waste