Excretory Products and their Elimination

Every living organism existing on the planet earth eliminate their body waste and other excess waste in different ways. Excretion is an essential process which is carried out in all living organisms, including the plants, animals, birds, insects and also in unicellular organisms.

Here, let us explore more information about the excretion, excretory organs and the excretory products.

Table of Contents

• Excretion
• Excretory Products
• Excretory Organs

Excretion is the physiological process of elimination of metabolic waste from the body. The excretory products include amino acids, urea, uric acid, carbon dioxide, water, and ammonia.

Some Molluscs and Echinoderms excrete waste products from the body in the form of amino acids. Ammonia is the primary excretory product in animals, it is derived from the proteins present in the food we eat. It is the most toxic nitrogenous waste and is excreted by diffusion by most of the amphibians and aquatic animals.

Mammals excrete nitrogenous waste as urea. It is less toxic and comparatively less soluble in water. Birds and reptiles excrete nitrogenous waste as uric acid.

Also Read: Excretion And Its Importance

Let us have a detailed look at the different excretory products and their elimination in different organisms.

The excretory products and organs of different organisms are mentioned below:

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The human excretory system comprises of the following excretory organs:

• A pair of kidneys
• A pair of ureters
• Urinary Bladder
• Urethra

Also Read: Human Excretory System

Kidneys

These are the primary excretory organs in humans located on the left and right side of the spine, near the liver. They are divided into the renal cortex, renal medulla, and renal pelvis. Renal pelvis carries urine from the kidney to the ureter. A nephron is the functional unit of a kidney.

Also Refer: Regulation Of Kidney Function

Ureter

It is a thin tube that comes out of each kidney carrying urine to the urinary bladder.

Urinary Bladder

It is a sac-like structure that stores urine until micturition. The Process Of Urination or expelling urine from the body.

Urethra

It is a tube-like structure that extends from the urinary bladder and helps in expelling urine outside the body. It is usually shorter in females and longer in males.

Also Read: Disorders of the Excretory System

Other Excretory Organs

Besides the above mentioned excretory organs, humans have other excretory organs as well. These excretory organs include:

Skin

Skin is known to be the largest organ in the human body. It contains sweat glands and the sebaceous glands. The sweat glands produce sweat which contains sodium chloride, amino acids, water, and glucose. The sebaceous glands excrete excess fat such as sterol and wax.

Also Refer: Structure And Functions Of Skin

Lungs

Lungs facilitate gaseous exchange. They help in inhaling oxygen and eliminating carbon dioxide and water vapour from the body.

Around 18L of carbon dioxide per hour and 400ml water per day is eliminated from the body.

Salivary Glands

These glands participate in the excretion of heavy metal ions such as lead and mercury.

Gastrointestinal tract and Intestines

The intestines eliminate the nitrogenous waste in the form of faeces. salts, glucose, calcium, iron, fibre is excreted through faeces.

Also Read: Gastrointestinal tract

This was brief information related to Excretory Products and their Elimination. Learn more in detail about Excretion, its products and other related topics @ BYJU’S Biology