Why is it important for the body to eliminate it's nitrogenous wastes?

Answer 1

Nitrogen in the body forms the chemical components of amino acids, from which all proteins are made. This includes the proteins in DNA and RNA which allow cells to reproduce.

Nitrogen in the air is important because it limits the oxidation of lung tissues. Although breathing pure oxygen is not harmful at lower pressures, over time it can trigger the build-up of fluid in the lungs.

Answer 2

CO2 is related to pH within our body. Therefore, we have to maintain that by removing C02. Too much CO2, the pH within our body is too basic for bodily functions to work. Too much H+ and our body is too acidic.

As for nitrogen, humans can't break down nitrogen so it has to be removed via the urea cycle as ammonium.

Answer 3

Nitrogenous waste comes from excess amino acids or nucleotides which organisms are unable to store. Amino groups from protein metabolism form ammonia (very reactive), a highly toxic substance. The ammonia can be converted to urea or uric acid, which are less toxic, but this is energetically expensive.

Different groups of organisms have different nitrogenous waste products.

Land snails, insects, birds, and some reptiles excrete uric acid as the major nitrogenous waste. Because it is thousands of times less soluble in water than either ammonia or urea, uric acid can be excreted as a precipitate after nearly all the water has been reabsorbed from the urine. In birds and reptiles, the pastelike urine is excreted into the cloaca and eliminated along with feces from the intestine.

Ammonium ions are a toxic waste product of the metabolism in animals. In fishes and aquatic invertebrates, it is excreted directly into the water. In mammals, sharks, and amphibians, it is converted in the urea cycle to urea, because it is less toxic and can be stored more efficiently. In birds, reptiles, and terrestrial snails, metabolic ammonium is converted into uric acid, which is solid, and can therefore be excreted with minimal water loss.

Ammonia excretion, though it works in water, is unsuitable for disposing of nitrogenous waste on land. A terrestrial animal would have to urinate copiously to get rid of ammonia, because a compound so toxic could only be transported in the animal and excreted in a very dilute solution. Instead, mammals and most amphibians excrete urea. (Many marine fishes land turtles, which have the problem of conserving water in their hyperosmotic environment, also excrete ) This substance can be handled in much more concentrated form because it is about 100,000 times less toxic than ammonia. Urea excretion enables the animal to sacrifice less water to discard its nitrogenous waste, an important adaptation for living on land.

Answer 4

they are harmful if they are allowed to accumulate in the body.