Urine

Urine is a liquid

Human urine and feces are collectively referred to as human waste or human excreta, and are managed via sanitation systems. Livestock urine and feces also require proper management if the livestock population density is high.

Physiology

Most animals have

Research looking at the duration of urination in a range of mammal species found that nine larger species urinated for 21 ± 13 seconds irrespective of body size.^[3] Smaller species, including rodents and bats, cannot produce steady streams of urine and instead urinate with a series of drops.^[3]

Characteristics

Quantity

Average urine production in adult humans is around 1.4 L (0.31 imp gal; 0.37 US gal) of urine per person per day with a normal range of 0.6 to 2.6 L (0.13 to 0.57 imp gal; 0.16 to 0.69 US gal) per person per day, produced in around 6 to 8 urinations per day depending on state of hydration, activity level, environmental factors, weight, and the individual's health.^[4] Producing too much or too little urine needs medical attention. Polyuria is a condition of excessive production of urine (> 2.5 L/day), oliguria when < 400 mL are produced, and anuria being < 100 mL per day.

Constituents

About 91–96% of urine consists of water.^[4] The remainder can be broadly characterized into inorganic salts, urea, organic compounds, and organic ammonium salts.^[4][5] Urine also contains proteins, hormones, and a wide range of metabolites,^[6] varying by what is introduced into the body.^{[citation needed]}

The total solids in urine are on average 59 g (2.1 oz) per day per person.^[6] Urea is the largest constituent of the solids, constituting more than 50% of the total. The daily volume and composition of urine varies per person based on the amount of physical exertion, environmental conditions, as well as water, salt, and protein intakes.^[4] In healthy persons, urine contains very little protein and an excess is suggestive of illness, as with sugar.^[6] Organic matter, in healthy persons, also is reported to at most 1.7 times more matter than minerals.^[5] However, any more than that is suggestive of illness.^[5]

However, it is important to note that lesser amounts and concentrations of other compounds and ions are often present in urination of humans.^[6]

Color

Urine varies in appearance, depending principally upon a body's level of hydration, interactions with drugs, compounds and pigments or dyes found in food, or diseases.^[6] Normally, urine is a transparent solution ranging from colorless to amber, but is usually a pale yellow.^[6] Usually urination color comes primarily from the presence of urobilin.^[9] Urobilin is a final waste product resulting from the breakdown of heme from hemoglobin during the destruction of aging blood cells.^{[citation needed]}

Colorless urine indicates over-hydration. Colorless urine in drug tests can suggest an attempt to avoid detection of illicit drugs in the bloodstream through over-hydration.

• Dark yellow urine is often indicative of dehydration.
• Yellowing is caused by urobilin. It is produced from urobilinogen, which is the result of the bacterial enzyme bilirubin reductase breaking down bilirubin released from dead red blood cells.^[10][11]
• Certain medications such as
  rifampin and phenazopyridine
  can cause orange urine.
• Bloody urine is termed hematuria, a symptom of a wide variety of medical conditions.
• Dark orange to brown urine can be a symptom of jaundice, rhabdomyolysis, or Gilbert's syndrome.
• Black or dark-colored urine is referred to as melanuria and may be caused by a melanoma or non-melanin acute intermittent porphyria.
• Pinkish urine can result from the consumption of
  beets (beeturia)^[6]
• Greenish urine can result from the consumption of asparagus or foods,^{[citation needed]} beverages with green pigments, or from a urinary tract infection.^[6]
• Reddish or brown urine may be caused by porphyria (not to be confused with the harmless,^[6] temporary pink or reddish tint caused by beeturia).
• Blue urine can be caused by the ingestion of methylene blue (e.g., in medications) or foods or beverages with blue dyes.
• Blue urine stains can be caused by blue diaper syndrome.
• Purple urine may be due to purple urine bag syndrome.

• 
  Dark urine due to low fluid intake.
• 
  Dark red urine due to blood (hematuria).
• 
  Dark red urine due to choluria.
• 
  Pinkish urine due to consumption of

  beetroots

  .
• 
  Green urine during long term infusion of the sedative propofol.

Odor

Sometime after leaving the body, urine may acquire a strong "fish-like" odor because of contamination with bacteria that break down urea into ammonia.^{[citation needed]} This odor is not present in fresh urine of healthy individuals; its presence may be a sign of a urinary tract infection.^{[citation needed]}

The odor of normal human urine can reflect what has been consumed or specific diseases.^[6] For example, an individual with diabetes mellitus may present a sweetened urine odor. This can be due to kidney diseases as well, such as kidney stones.^{[citation needed]} Additionally, the presence of amino acids in urine (diagnosed as maple syrup urine disease) can cause it to smell of maple syrup.^[12]

Eating asparagus can cause a strong odor reminiscent of the vegetable caused by the body's breakdown of

The pH normally is within the range of 5.5 to 7 with an average of 6.2.^[4] In persons with hyperuricosuria, acidic urine can contribute to the formation of stones of uric acid in the kidneys, ureters, or bladder.^[17] Urine pH can be monitored by a physician or at home.^[18]

A diet which is high in protein from meat and dairy, as well as alcohol consumption can reduce urine pH, whilst potassium and organic acids, such as from diets high in fruit and vegetables, can increase the pH and make it more alkaline.^[4]

Cranberries, popularly thought to decrease the pH of urine, have actually been shown not to acidify urine.

Human urine has a specific gravity of 1.003–1.035.[4]

Bacteria and pathogens

Urine is not sterile, not even in the bladder.^[22][23] In the urethra, epithelial cells lining the urethra are colonized by facultatively anaerobic Gram-negative rod and cocci bacteria.^[24] One study conducted in Nigeria isolated a total of 77 distinct bacterial strains from 100 healthy children (ages 5–11) as well as 39 strains from 33 cow urine samples, a considerable amount being pathogens.^[25] Pathogens identified and their percentages were:

The study also states:

Multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) rates recorded in children urinal bacterial species were 37.5–100% (

Gram-negative), while MAR among the cow urinal bacteria was 12.5–75.0% (Gram-positive) and 25.0–100% (Gram-negative).

— Microbial evaluation and public health implications of urine as alternative therapy in clinical pediatric cases: health implication of urine therapy

Many physicians in ancient history resorted to the inspection and examination of the urine of their patients.

Source of medications

Urine contains proteins and other substances that are useful for medical therapy and are ingredients in many prescription drugs (e.g., Ureacin,

Urine can also be used to produce urokinase, which is used clinically as a thrombolytic agent.^{[citation needed]}

Fertilizer

Given that urea in urine breaks down into ammonia, urine has been used for cleaning. In pre-industrial times, urine was used – in the form of lant or aged urine – as a cleaning fluid.^[46] Urine was also used for whitening teeth in Ancient Rome.^[47]

Gunpowder

Urine was used before the development of a chemical industry in the manufacture of gunpowder. Urine, a nitrogen source, was used to moisten straw or other organic material, which was kept moist and allowed to rot for several months to over a year. The resulting salts were washed from the heap with water, which was evaporated to allow collection of crude saltpeter crystals, that were usually refined before being used in making gunpowder.^[48]

Survival uses

)

The

US Army Field Manual advises against drinking urine for survival. The manual explains that drinking urine tends to worsen rather than relieve dehydration due to the salts in it, and that urine should not be consumed in a survival situation, even when there is no other fluid available. In hot weather survival situations, where other sources of water are not available, soaking cloth (a shirt for example) in urine and putting it on the head can help cool the body.^[49]

During World War I, Germans experimented with numerous poisonous gases as weapons. After the first German chlorine gas attacks, Allied troops were supplied with masks of cotton pads that had been soaked in urine. It was believed that the ammonia in the pad neutralized the chlorine. These pads were held over the face until the soldiers could escape from the poisonous fumes.^{[citation needed]}

Survivor, as well as the films The Real Cancun (2003), The Heartbreak Kid (2007) and The Paperboy (2012). However, at best it is ineffective, and in some cases this treatment may make the injury worse.^[51][52][53]

Textiles

Urine has often been used as a

waulking" (fulling) woven wool is preceded by soaking in urine, preferably infantile.^[54]

Animal repellent

The urine of

interspecific communication, since it contains semiochemicals that can act as kairomones.^[56]

History

The fermentation of urine by bacteria produces a

urinals

in France (vespasiennes), Italy (vespasiani), and Romania (vespasiene).

fermented urine in 1669. In 1773 the French chemist Hilaire Rouelle discovered the organic compound urea

by boiling urine dry.

Language

The English word urine (/ˈjuːrɪn/, /ˈjɜːrɪn/) comes from the Latin urina (-ae, f.), which is cognate with ancient words in various Indo-European languages that concern water, liquid, diving, rain, and urination (for example Sanskrit varṣati meaning 'it rains' or vār meaning 'water' and Greek ourein meaning 'to urinate').^[59] The onomatopoetic term piss predates the word urine, but is now considered vulgar.^[60][61] Urinate was at first used mostly in medical contexts.^{[citation needed]} Piss is also used in such colloquialisms as to piss off,^[60] piss poor, and the slang expression pissing down to mean heavy rain. Euphemisms and expressions used between parents and children (such as wee, pee, and many others) have long existed.

Lant is a word for aged urine, originating from the Old English word hland referring to urine in general.

See also

• Drinking urine
  (urophagia)
• Ureotelic
• Urine therapy
• Urolagnia, an attraction to urine

Notes

1. ^ A formula for adjustment of excreta N and P values based on dietary characteristics is found in Jönsson 2004.^[40]: 5
2. ^ For the amount of other elements in urine, see Rose 2015^[42] and Rich Earth 2021.^[43]

References

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    • Witty, Michael (December 2016) "Ancient Roman urine chemistry," Acta Archaeologica, 87 (1) : 179–191. Witty speculates that the Romans obtained ammonia in concentrated form by adding wood ash (impure potassium carbonate) to urine that had been fermented for several hours. Struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate) is thereby precipitated, and the yield of struvite can be increased by then treating the solution with bittern, a magnesium-rich solution that is a byproduct of making salt from sea water. Roasting struvite releases ammonia vapors.
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External links

Look up urine or piss in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Urinanalysis Archived 2007-01-17 at the Wayback Machine at the University of Utah Eccles Health Sciences Library
• Urine Chemistry at drugs.com