Question 5: Describe the role of liver, lungs and skin in excretion.
Liver, lungs, and skin also play an important role in the process of excretion.
Role of the liver:
Liver is the largest gland in vertebrates. It helps in the excretion of cholesterol, steroid hormones, vitamins, drugs, and other waste materials through bile. Urea is formed in the liver by the ornithine cycle. Ammonia – a toxic substance – is quickly changed into urea in the liver and thence eliminated from the body. Liver also changes the decomposed haemoglobin pigment into bile pigments called bilirubin and biliverdin.
Role of the lungs: Lungs help in the removing waste materials such as carbon dioxide from the body.
Role of the skin: Skin has many glands which help in excreting waste products through pores. It has two types of glands – sweat and sebaceous glands. Sweat glands are highly vascular and tubular glands that separate the waste products from the blood and excrete them in the form of sweat. Sweat excretes excess salt and water from the body. Sebaceous glands are branched glands that secrete an oily secretion called sebum.
