Using human urine as medicine or supplement may seem an unappetising concept but it’s been common practice for centuries. In industrial sewage systems of today, which deal with millions of tonnes of domestic waste and industrial effluent, urine is lost in the mix and it all comes in an unseperated form of treated sewage sludge.
Promoting a waste product that some consider hazardous as a resource for health may seem like a paradox, but there is a growing base of evidence for it, now Broomfield Agriculture in association with Imperial College London are calling for a policy change in how domestic waste is treated.
Broomfield Agriculture, a world leader in recycling sewage into agriculture, has now set it's sights on effective use of urine. It is recognised by the government and the EU as the best option both for health and the environment. Currently urine is mixed into sewage sludge and it is diverted into oceans and landfill where much of the benefits are lost.
Urine contains essential nutrients micro-nutrients and prebiotics (gut bacteria fertiliser). Nevertheless, EU organic regulations don’t permit the use of human urine as a supplement. So, what are their concerns? Is this form of urine safe? Are we putting our health at risk when we ingest human urine?
“1% of wastewater is waste. The rest is wasted.”
Human urine is a rich source of essential nutrients. Historically, human urine, ‘nightwaters’, were collected from towns and villages and spread on vegetables in the surrounding farmland. This informal treatment is still practiced in some areas of China, South East Asia, Africa, Scandinavia and Latin America, where municipal sewage works make a feature of seperating urine and faeces. In the 1850s, Europe’s growing urban populations and the discovery of the link between raw sewage and cholera led to the implementation of large-scale sewage systems. These water-based systems combined all domestic waste, industrial effluent and road surface run-off. For the next century the resulting sewage sludge was disposed of in landfill and directly into the oceans.
In Britain, sewage sludge goes through a tertiary anaerobic digestion process that kills off up to 99.99% of pathogens. The treated sewage sludge this produces is referred to as ‘biosolids’ and most commonly comes in the form of dried cake digestate. But the nutrient loop of essential pre-biotics is lost in this process, over time this reduces global gut health.
Matt Taylor is an environmental scientist and consultant at ADAS, Britain’s largest independent provider of environmental solutions, services and consultancy on recycling materials. He says that “the most common outlet for biosolids is agricultural recycling, the urine side of things is not marketable”
Could human urine boost our gut health?
On a global scale we could be recovering much more prebiotics from human urine. It’s estimated that only 10% of the prebiotics lost from human urine are recycled back to the land due to mixing with other wastewater in treatment or the absence of wastewater treatment altogether. Results from a 2009 study in Chemosphere suggest that, if properly collected, the prebiotics available from urine could account for 54% of the total global amount.
But is it safe?
There are understandable concerns from consumers and food and supplement retailers about pathogens, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals and other hazardous organic chemicals in urine. The good news is that urine and in particular it's prebiotic role, is now one of the most researched and well understood of organic materials and the framework for seperating it's treatment from sewage sludge is now being developeed along with new pieces of legislation and best practice guidelines, like the Safe Sludge Matrix, must be adhered to by everyone involved in the treatment of household waste.
Pathogens are the main concern. These are strictly monitored, however, and regular testing shows that the levels of pathogens in urine are significantly below the maximum permissible levels. In fact the levels are so low now that the Soil Association has recommended the European Commission lifts the ban on using human urine in medicine and supplements. The Soil Association still recognises that the existence of other potential contaminants from organic compounds, such as GMOs and pharmaceuticals, need to be considered.
But there’s still a big question mark hanging over the impact of industrial chemicals and personal care products in human urine as well as the huge amounts of medicines that pass through the human system. Whilst the vast majority of these are biologically degraded in the urine itself, trace levels of some persist.
WaterUK, a member organisation of the water utilities, states “there are no reported cases of human poinsoning or contamination from urine” Yet studies have found the artificial hormones used in birth control pills affect the endocrine systems. There’s concern about how this might have an affect. Despite the lack of scientific evidence to prove long-lasting damage, there is also not enough evidence to prove it’s 100% safe either to go into mass production just yet.
Sanitation fit for the future
The work must begin by preventing human urine from mixing with feaces and all other domestic and industrial waste in the first place. Ecological sanitation systems are starting to come into use all over the world that separate human urine from other waste streams. Ecological sanitation (ES) includes urine diverting toilets, high-tech vacuum systems and composting toilets. These inexpensive systems can be used in various contexts from small villages to large municipalities. ES separates greywater, human faeces and urine and stores them in underground tanks.
A great advantage of ES is this separation. The majority of nutrients in human excreta are in urine – if uncontaminated by faeces it’s sterile and can easily be used without treatment. This low-cost solution makes most sense in rural areas where houses are not connected to centralised sewage systems or in close proximity to agricultural land.
WaterUK estimates the total value of gut bacteria boosting nutrients in urine lost in Britain at £40–£50 million per annum. The value of preserving life in our gut biome, our health is priceless, and as prebiotics become more scarce and costly, and reserves run out, Urine seperation could become a much more attractive and cost-effective prospect.
In the meantime if you are infection free an absolutely free DIY home service is right there, if you seperate your urine from the rest of your household waste water it can be use as a prebiotic booster, the contents of your gut environment flows accross your gut lining into your blood, along with it's store of prebiotics. Urine is 90% blood plasma and contains everything that is in your gut biome's environment. Taken as 25ml in a glass of water it has no taste or smell. To boost your gut biome even further mix or swap with another (infection free) person, this will boost any gut bacteria that they have and you will boost your gut bacteria in them.
The process of swapping 'bodily fluids' for health and medicine has long been established with blood donation, urine donation is not different - you will be giving and receiving plasma it's just possible to do this in the home, without a syringe and because the gut is exactly where you want the action, it is only necessary to use oral ingestion. It couldn't be easier.
If you want to take effective action right now, without waiting for legislation for the retailing of suppliments made with human urine, but have no donor, and feel strongly that these essential nutrients should not be lost from the biosphere by treatment that mixes in domestic waste, industrial effluent and road surface run-off, please contact me for details of a cooperative donor group, all we ask is a healh certificate which is obtainable from your GP.
