Removal of Metabolic End Products - Introduction

Removal of Carbon Dioxide by the Lungs

At the same time that blood picks up oxygen in the lungs,carbon dioxide is released from the blood into the lung alveoli;the respiratory movement of air into and out of the lungs carries the carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is the most abundant of all the end products of metabolism.

Kidneys

Passage of the blood through the kidneys removes from the plasma most of the other substances besides carbon dioxide that are not needed by the cells. These substances include different end products of cellular metabolism,such as urea and uric acid;they also include excesses of ions and water from the food that might have accumulated in the extracellular fluid.
The kidneys perform their function by first filtering large quantities of plasma through the glomeruli into the tubules and then reabsorbing into the blood those substances needed by the body, such as glucose, amino acids, appropriate amounts of water, and many of the ions. Most of the other substances that are not needed by the body, especially the metabolic end products such as urea, are reabsorbed poorly and pass through the renal tubules into the urine.