Subdecks (2)

    Cards (32)

    • Excretion
      • Toxic metabolic waste products’ removal
      • Main Waste:
      • CO_2 from decarboxylation in respiration
      • Nitrogen-containing products, e.g. ammonia, uric acid, creatine and urea
      • Organs:
      • Lungs (remove CO_2)
      • Liver (detoxify; produce urea from excess amino acids)
      • Kidney (filter urea from blood; form urine)
      Amino Acid
      • Cannot be stored
      • Amino group removed from each form ammonia
      • Toxic + soluble
      • Form alkaline solution
      • Increasing pH; change proteins' tertiary structure
      • Rapidly converted to urea in liver; still toxic but less soluble
      CO_2
      • Combines with water to form carbonic acid
      • Dissociates to form hydrogen and hydrogen carbonate ions (catalysed by carbonic anhydrase)
      • If pH lowers below 7.35
      • Respiratory acidosis (acid blood)
      • Slowed breathing, drowsiness, headache and confusion
      • Reduces haemoglobins’ oxygen affinity
      • Hydrogen competes with oxygen