Excretion in humans
IGCSE BIOLOGY
What is Excretion?
• Excretion is the removal of toxic materials,
the waste products of metabolism and
excess materials.
• Metabolism means the chemical processes
going on in the body.
• One type of waste is not excreted from the
body - faeces! It is egested (the removal of
undigested food)
09/21/2025 4
What are the five major waste products
produced by your cells?
• Carbon Dioxide
• Water
• Salts (minerals)
• Urea
• Heat
Types of metabolic wastes
Wastes Produced from
Carbon Dioxide Aerobic Respiration
Water Aerobic Respiration
Salts Metabolic activities
Nitrogenous wastes Breakdown of excess Amino Acids &
Proteins
Types of nitrogenous wastes Toxicity
Ammonia (NH3) Highly Toxic
Urea Moderately Toxic
Uric Acid Crystals Minimally Toxic
Substances that needed to be excreted
substance source Organ of Effect
excretion
Carbon dioxide Respiration in living cells Lungs Excess carbon
dioxide is toxic.
Urea, nitrogenous Breakdown of excess amino Kidney
waste acid by the liver
Excess salt and Food and drink Kidney and
water skin
Bile pigment, Breakdown hemoglobin liver
bilirubin
09/21/2025 7
How is the circulatory system connected
to excretory system?
Answer: circulatory system transports metabolic wastes from
body cells to various excretory organs
Human excretory organs
Main Accessory
excretory excretory
organs organs
Lungs Skin
Kidneys Liver
(alveoli) (sweat glands)
Metabolic wastes and what they are removed by:
– CO2- lungs,
– H2O - skin, kidney, lungs
– salts - skin, kidney
– ammonia - liver
Substances that needed to be excreted
• It is necessary for the body to rid itself of
waste products.
• It is also important to regulate the volume
and composition of body fluids.
• The excretory systems of the body do this.
• All vertebrate animals produce nitrogen
waste (urea) in one form or another. Your
kidneys filter out urea to produce urine,
removing nitrogen waste from your body.
• Kidneys also regulate water levels by
excreting different amounts of urine.
• Your lungs excrete carbon dioxide and water
as you breathe out.
• Your skin sheds excess salt through sweat.
09/21/2025 10
Waste removal
Several organs are important in removing waste from the body.
The lungs remove carbon
The liver converts
dioxide.
excess protein into
urea.
The skin provides a
surface for small
amounts of water and The kidneys remove
salt to move out of the unwanted substances
body. such as urea, excess
water and salt.
How do the Kidneys aid in the removal of
wastes?
• Produce urine and regulate
water/salt balance in the blood.
• **major organ of the excretory
system**
How does the Skin aid in the removal of
wastes?
• Sweat: removal of water, salt, and
heat
• ~2 to 5 million sweat glands
Sweat Gland Blood Vessels
How do the Lungs aid in the removal
of wastes?
• Exhalation
• Excretes water, CO2, and heat
How does the LIVER aid in the removal
of wastes?
•Produces urea from breaking
down amino acids (ammonia to
urea)
Important
Breakdown in the Liver
Liver
Functions:
• Converts excess amino • Liver breaks down old red blood cells.
acids into urea –
through deamination • Alcohol, other drugs and hormones are
also broken down by the liver – this is
• Controls the amount of called detoxification.
glucose in blood, with
the help of the • Prolonged use of alcohol or drugs like
hormone Insulin paracetamol can lead to liver failure.
• Stores excess • Liver also makes bile which is temporarily
carbohydrates as stored in the gall bladder. Bile is broken
Glycogen down and added to faeces.
• Makes bile
09/21/2025 16
09/21/2025 17
Definition: the removal of nitrogen-containing part of
amino acids to form urea
09/21/2025 19
Question
Which human excretory structure aids in the
maintenance of normal body temperature?
1)Urinary bladder
2)Nephrons
3)Liver
4)Sweat glands
What are the major organs of the
urinary system?
4. Kidneys – produce urine
2. Ureters – carries urine from kidneys to bladder
3. Bladder – stores urine
1. Urethra – releases urine
Excretory system
The renal vein carries The renal artery
cleaned blood away carries ‘dirty’ blood
from the kidneys (with waste) into the
kidneys
The kidneys remove
urea and other waste Ureters are tubes
which carry urine to
The bladder is a bag the bladder
that stores urine
The sphincter is a ring
of muscle that keeps
The urethra is a tube
the bladder closed
which carries urine
until you go to the
out of your body
toilet
Where are the kidneys?
•The kidneys are a paired
organ system that are found
at the back of the
abdominal cavity just above
the umbilicus (belly button!)
•They sit either side of the
spinal column just below
the rib line, they are not
protected by the ribs and
can be damaged by a large
impact force applied to the
area such as a kick or
punch.
09/21/2025 23
Pelvis
Renal
artery
Medulla
Renal
vein
Ureter
Cortex
09/21/2025 24
Structure of Kidney
Each kidney has four parts:
Th two kidneys are fairly solid oval structures they are
red brown,enclosed in a transparent membrane.
• Cortex – the outer layer jammed pack full of filters
called nephrons. Filters the [Link] dark outer region
• Medulla – the middle layer which has the tubes
carrying filtered wastes to the centre of the kidney.
Contains Loop of Henle..its a lighter zone
• Pelvis – area where all collecting ducts come together
and connect with ureter.
• Ureter – transports urine to the bladder.
09/21/2025 25
What is the major filtering unit of
the kidney?
The Nephron
Each kidney is made
of 1 million nephrons
to filter the blood
The human Kidneys = It produce urine which contains
urea, water and mineral salts.
urinary system Aorta = oxygenated Blood enters the kidneys
at high pressure via the aorta through renal
artery
Vena cava =deoxygenated blood leaves the
kidneys and enters the vena cava through
rena vein
Renal arteries and vain = help to supply the
kidney with blood
Ureters= urine flow down the ureter into the
bladder
Bladder=were urine is stored until the
sphincter muscle is released.
Urethra = urine flow out of the bladder,
through the urethra to the environment
09/21/2025 27
Function of the kidneys
• The kidneys have a vital role in homeostasis, they control the content of
the blood
• Kidneys act as filters to “clean the blood”
• They perform three main roles
1. Removal of urea from the blood
2. Adjustment of ions in the blood
3. Adjustment of the water content of the blood
09/21/2025 28
Filtered blood leaves the
kidney through renal vein
Blood enters the kidney
from renal artery
Urine leaves kidney Nephron – the filter
through ureter
09/21/2025 29
09/21/2025 30
There are roughly one million
nephrons in each kidney.
Cortex
Nephron
R. vein
Renal artery
Ureter
The unit of a kidney is the
nephron – it carries out
filtering and reabsorption. Medulla
09/21/2025 31
VIEW OF THE NEPRONE
PROCESSES OF THE NEPRONE
Blood is filtered
in the bowman's
capsule
Reabsorptio Water levels of
n of useful urine adjusted
substances
at the
convoluted
tubule
To bladder
09/21/2025 32
Renal artery FILTRATION PROCESSES OF THE
NEPRONE
Glomerulus
Bowman’s capsule
Distal
• Blood arrives
Capillaries from the renal artery.
off renal convoluted
artery tubule
• Blood enters a ball of capillaries called Glomerulus.
• Theses capillaries
Proximal convoluted sit in a filter called the Bowman’s
tubule
or renal capsule.
• Small molecules leave the capillary and enter the
capsule – glucose, amino acids, salts, urea and
Loop of Henle Urine collecting duct
09/21/2025
water. This is ultrafiltration 33
Renal artery
• The filtered blood
moves down the
nephron.
• In the convoluted
Glomerulus tubule cells
Bowman’s capsule
reabsorb the good
stuff – glucose,
Distal
Capillaries off renal amino acids, most
convoluted
artery tubule
salt and water.
• The rest – water
Convoluted or
kidney tubule and urea – moves
on through the
REABSORBTION PROCESSES OF nephron.
THE NEPRONE
09/21/2025
Urine collecting duct
34
• As the urine RELEASE OF WASTE
moves on PROCESSES OF THE NEPRONE
more water is
saved in the
loop of Henle Glomerulus
and collecting
duct Bowman’s capsule
• This adjusts Convoluted
water loss to tubule
suit the level
of water in the
body.
Loop of Henle Urine collecting duct
09/21/2025 35
Renal artery
Glomerulus
Bowman’s capsule
Distal
Capillaries off renal convoluted
artery tubule
Proximal convoluted tubule
Loop of Henle Urine collecting duct
09/21/2025 36
• Renal artery: brings blood to the kidneys
Contains waste products.
• Renal Vein: takes blood away from the kidneys. Purified
blood
• Convoluted Tubules: reabsorption of useful substances
happens here; including Glucose, most water and some
salts
• Bowman’s Capsule: This is where filtration takes place.
The filtrate contains useable & waste products
• Collecting duct: collects urine from nephrons and
transports it to the pelvis
09/21/2025 37
Excretion in Humans
2.72 describe ultrafiltration in the Bowmancs capsule and the composition of the glomerular filtrate
The glomerulus filters
blood and produces
glomerular filtrate.
This filtrate contains:
water, glucose, salts and
urea (amino acids).
(Large molecules such as
protein are too large to fit
through the blood capillary
walls.)
Excretion in Humans
2.73 understand that water is reabsorbed into the blood from the collecting duct
Blood water levels are sensed by the hypothalamus in the brain.
When water levels are too low, the hypothalamus tells the pituitary gland (also in the brain) to release
the hormone Anti-Diuretic Hormone (ADH)
Teach
Excretion in Humans
2.73 understand that water is reabsorbed into the blood from the collecting duct
2.75 describe the role of ADH in regulating the water content of the blood
When blood water levels are too low;
1) Hypothalamus detects
2) Pituitary gland releases ADH into bloodstream
3) ADH travels all over the body
4) Only the cells in the collecting duct of the nephrons of the kidney have receptors for ADH,
so only they respond to the hormone
5) The collecting duct becomes more permeable
6) Water is draw out of the collecting duct back into the blood
BBC
7) Water levels return to normal
Question
Which sequence represents the correct
pathway for the removal of urine from
human body?
1)Kidney-ureter-urinary bladder-urethra
2)Kidney-urethra-urinary bladder-ureter
3)kidney-urinary bladder-ureter-urethra
4)kidney-urinary bladder-urethra-ureter
Answer
1)Kidney-ureter-urinary bladder-urethra
Composition of Urine
(what its made of)
• Water
• Urea
• NaCl (sodium chloride)
• KCl (potassium chloride)
09/21/2025 43
Formation of Urea
• Excess amino acids cannot be stored in the body.
• The liver breaks down nitrogenous compounds (amino acids
mostly).
• This is called deamination.
• This produces urea which must be removed from the
body.
09/21/2025 44
Excess Water:
• Water content in blood & body must be kept constant
• If not regulated, the cells will take up water by osmosis
– they will eventually swell up, burst and die
• When the body excretes a large amount of water the
urine is light in colour & dilute
• When the body retains a large amount of water, the
urine is dark & more concentrated
09/21/2025 45
Kidney
disease
• Diabetes causes damage to the small blood vessels in
the kidneys.
• This process slowly destroys the filters and causes
problems due to build-up of the waste products in the
blood.
• The filters start to leak out too much protein into the
urine and this can be the first sign of diabetic kidney
disease.
• High blood pressure can also cause kidney damage
itself.
• Kidney disease may also result from infection, drugs
and kidney stones while some types may run in the
family.
09/21/2025 46
Diabetes Insipidus
What is it?
Excretion of large amounts of watery urine
Unquenchable thirst
What Causes It?
Kidney is not reabsorbing water
Back into the bloodstream
How do you treat it?
Medicine
Kidney Stones
Kidney Stones
What Causes It?
Not drinking enough water to dilute the
minerals/salts
being filtered out
What is it?
Urine is extremely concentrated forming
crystallized stones which can block the urinary
tract
How do you treat it?
Some pass through the urinary tract, surgery,
shock wave therapy
Shock Wave Therapy
Kidney Failure
What Causes It?
Traumatic injury, Drugs/Toxins, Infection, high blood
pressure, and diabetes
What is it?
Low rate of filtration; nephron’s are not
working properly in both kidneys
How do you treat it?
Dialysis; Kidney Transplant
Treating kidney failure
1. Kidney dialysis
• This is the process of removing waste and excess fluid
from the blood using an artificial kidney machine that
filters or washes the blood.
• Blood is collected from a vein in the arm and passes
along a tube that is semi-permeable.
• The dialysis solution on the other side of the tube has
no urea so urea passes out of the blood.
• Treatment is required three times a week, each
lasting about five hours.
09/21/2025 52
09/21/2025 54
Treating kidney failure
2. Kidney transplantation
• A kidney transplant may
be considered if your
doctor feels that your
general health is good
enough to stand up to
the operation.
• You also need drugs to
suppress the immune
system after surgery. This
is needed to stop
rejection of the foreign
tissue.
09/21/2025 56
• A donor kidney can come from a living person (usually
a blood relative such as a parent, brother, sister or
child).
• Or, from someone who has died in hospital and
permission has been given to use their kidneys.
• The transplant kidney is placed in the groin. Your own
kidneys are not removed.
• After a transplant the person no longer needs dialysis.
09/21/2025 57
Disadvantages Advantages of
of Transplants Transplants
• A good tissue match is needed
for the donor kidney to reduce • Have a normal lifestyle
rejection. as no dialysis.
• Very expensive operation. • Dialysis takes several
hours in hospital three
• Risk of rejection of the donor times a week and makes
kidney so immunosuppressant a person very tired.
drugs must be taken daily.
• Dialysis machines are
• Some religions do not allow expensive.
transplants.
09/21/2025 58
