# Can urine be tested for the age of the...urinator? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 30, 2007, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684 "2007-12-30T07:07:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/1 "2007-12-30T07:07:28Z")
A friend-of-a-friend (let’s call her F) has an ex-husband and a couple of kids by him. They share custody. The ex has had problems with drugs in the past. He is currently being regularly tested for drugs at work with urine tests. Recently, F’s son, age 10, has made several references to daddy having him pee in a jar. Naturally, F is concerned that the ex is using drugs again and using the child’s urine for the test. Which raised the question–is it possible to do a test on a urine sample to determine the (approximate) age of the person who produced it? Could they at least tell the difference between urine produced by a grown adult and prepubescent child? Note: F is addressing her concerns through other channels. This question is just out of curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/2 "2007-12-30T07:13:49Z")
From here: > **[Adulteration Built In Archives](https://rapiddetect.com/product-category/adulteration-tests/adulteration-built-in/)** > > Adulteration Built-In > [@rapiddetect.com](#): > > Age: Age can not be tested using urine. There is a rumor that approximate age can be detected in urine, and is tested in medical insurance exams. It’s a myth. Gender: Gender cannot be tested either. As with age, there is a rumor that gender can be detected in urine, and is tested in medical insurance exams. It’s another myth. It may be argued that a pregnancy test can be used to detect the gender of the urine provider, but the same test is used to detect prostate cancer in males. His main obstacle will be the temperature of the urine during the test, and concealment. Age cannot be tested for in urinalysis. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/3 "2007-12-30T07:29:17Z")
Gender can’t be tested? That strikes me as odd. Does not urine contain cells from the donor? Why can’t these be examined for XX or XY chromosomes? (And why do I have the image of Arnold Schwarzenegger appearing in the ruins of a washroom and declaiming, “I am the Urinator”) ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/4 "2007-12-30T07:41:31Z")
“I’ll pee back!” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/5 "2007-12-30T08:21:28Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Gender can’t be tested? That strikes me as odd. Does not urine contain cells from the donor? Why can’t these be examined for XX or XY chromosomes? [/QUOTE] The husband was being tested for a drug screen. The answer is no. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/6 "2007-12-30T08:34:45Z")
[QUOTE=bbs2k] The husband was being tested for a drug screen. The answer is no. [/QUOTE] But additional tests could be performed on the urine. I’m sure I’ve seen urine tested for gender on various police procedural TV shows–not that that is proof that such a test exists! ETA–In this case, a test for the age of the donor needn’t be conclusive or anything. Just enough to raise a red flag and compel more accurate testing. (again, this is hypothetical anyway) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/7 "2007-12-30T08:41:40Z")
Well, they could test for the presence of cooties. That’d be a tip-off of juvenile urine. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/8 "2007-12-30T08:54:52Z")
Cooties and Legos. Man, those things get _everywhere_! ---
**Author:** ![Ottoerotic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ottoerotic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ottoerotic)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/9 "2007-12-30T14:34:58Z")
[QUOTE=Green Bean] I’m sure I’ve seen urine tested for gender on various police procedural TV shows–not that that is proof that such a test exists! [/QUOTE] No, usually if they TV show needs to prove that the urine came from a female instead of a male they find some pregnancy indicators in the urine, and thats how he gets busted. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/10 "2007-12-30T14:36:55Z")
[QUOTE=Ottoerotic] No, usually if they TV show needs to prove that the urine came from a female instead of a male they find some pregnancy indicators in the urine, and thats how he gets busted. [/QUOTE] Or “female hormones” or birth control pills. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/11 "2007-12-30T14:41:38Z")
[QUOTE=ParentalAdvisory] From here: > **[Adulteration Built In Archives](https://rapiddetect.com/product-category/adulteration-tests/adulteration-built-in/)** > > Adulteration Built-In His main obstacle will be the temperature of the urine during the test, and concealment. Age cannot be tested for in urinalysis. [/QUOTE] Putting it in a condom and taping it to your leg was the trick I always heard for keeping the temprature correct. If I were “F” I would try one of two things. Either keep the kids on the day of (and before) a UA, OR call the testing facility and let them know of your concerns and let them deal with it from there. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/12 "2007-12-30T17:07:44Z")
They can test urine for hormones, including testosterone. Theoretically at least a 10 year old boy would have lower testosterone levels than an adult male. But no one’s going to test his urine for testosterone, unless his work is concerned about steroid use. ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/13 "2007-12-30T17:12:32Z")
Let’s clear this up. Testee is male, suspected donor is male. [Besides.](http://www.tellmepinkorblue.com/?gclid=CJbU2_u_0JACFQOllgodgk91XA) ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/14 "2007-12-30T19:11:38Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Gender can’t be tested? That strikes me as odd. Does not urine contain cells from the donor? Why can’t these be examined for XX or XY chromosomes?) [/QUOTE] You are absolutely right. Since urine contains at least a few cells (white blood cells or kidney/bladder cells), it would be a very simple matter for someone to determine gender from a urine sample (as long as they had the appropriate technology). Although, as you say, gender testing could be done by looking for the ‘Y’ chromosome or its absence, nowadays it might even be easier just to use PCR to identify key segments of the ‘Y’ chromosome. That would certainly be more sensitive than looking for whole ‘Y’ chromosomes. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/15 "2007-12-30T20:36:18Z")
[QUOTE=KarlGauss] You are absolutely right. Since urine contains at least a few cells (white blood cells or kidney/bladder cells), it would be a very simple matter for someone to determine gender from a urine sample (as long as they had the appropriate technology). Although, as you say, gender testing could be done by looking for the ‘Y’ chromosome or its absence, nowadays it might even be easier just to use PCR to identify key segments of the ‘Y’ chromosome. That would certainly be more sensitive than looking for whole ‘Y’ chromosomes. [/QUOTE] From the [RapidDetect](http://www.rapiddetect.com/adulteration_test_products.html) website: > [@](#): > > Gender cannot be tested either. As with age, there is a rumor that gender can be detected in urine, and is tested in medical insurance exams. It’s another myth. It may be argued that a pregnancy test can be used to detect the gender of the urine provider, but the same test is used to detect prostate cancer in males. Surely these companies know what they’re talking about? If they could do it, it would be an added feature in sales promotions of their kits. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/16 "2007-12-30T21:21:00Z")
[QUOTE=aldiboronti] From the [RapidDetect](http://www.rapiddetect.com/adulteration_test_products.html) website: Surely these companies know what they’re talking about? If they could do it, it would be an added feature in sales promotions of their kits. [/QUOTE] This is probably referring to the routine “off the shelf” tests. Again, there is no do doubt whatsoever that gender can be determined on urine, or for that matter, on _any_ human material so long as it contains some cells. I suppose it’s theoretically possible that urine may not contain sufficient cells to allow for gender testing. However, as you’ve probably heard and read about, it’s now possible to do “DNA analysis” on absolutely miniscule quantities of tissue (made possible through [PCR](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCR)). It’s not much of a stretch to say that even a single cell is enough to allow such testing. Hence, so long as there’s even a few cells in the urine (and there will “always” be at least some cells there), then DNA testing, including gender determination, will be possible. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/17 "2007-12-30T21:50:07Z")
Thank you, **KarlGauss** , that makes it a lot clearer. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/18 "2007-12-30T21:58:57Z")
As **KarlGauss** says, absolutely it \*can \*be done. \*Will _it be done as part of a routine drug test for most employers? No way. Perhaps if the guy is working a high security clearance job in the Pentagon, but if he’s tossing boxes around at the local Wal_Mart, they’re not paying for anything more than the basic pot/coke/meth screen. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/19 "2007-12-30T22:10:33Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] As **KarlGauss** says, absolutely it \*can \*be done. \*Will _it be done as part of a routine drug test for most employers? No way. Perhaps if the guy is working a high security clearance job in the Pentagon, but if he’s tossing boxes around at the local Wal_Mart, they’re not paying for anything more than the basic pot/coke/meth screen. [/QUOTE] Nicely put. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2007, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684/20 "2007-12-31T03:27:12Z")
Thanks for the responses so far. Just some additional details that I didn’t want to muck up the OP with–given the ex’s past drug use, there is a social service worker of some sort involved here. It was the social service person who noticed the child saying things that suggested that this might be going on. The social service person asked F if she had ever heard the child saying anything along those lines. And F was like “well, now that you mention it…” So the social service person is doing a little investigating to see if she can figure out if something is amiss. If so, then she is going to see about compelling drug testing that is less easily falsified. But you can see why the “could they just test the urine sample for the age of the donor” question came up. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-urine-be-tested-for-the-age-of-the-urinator/431684.md?page=2)