# Is urine inherently septic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156 "2005-05-10T01:29:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/21 "2005-05-10T11:47:19Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > You mean I don’t have to wash my hands any more before leaving the men’s room? If the only thing you touch in the men’s room is your own freely flowing urine, and you wipe your hands, then no. If on the other hand you touch your penis, then yes. Unless of course your drawers aren’t the warm, bacteria friendly environment that mine are. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/22 "2005-05-10T12:53:18Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > It’s really astonishing how often this question comes up on the boards. Well, maybe people are flirting with unusual sexual practices. Always best to know in advance and all. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/23 "2005-05-10T13:28:34Z")
> [@Sage Rat](#): > > Dunno, a few million people and an ape drinking urine regularly without dying is a fairly good indication that it isn’t too toxic a substance–so though humorous, it is another cite for the OP. > > Of course, Mangetout’s list strikes down the theory of health-benefits fairly quickly (though I have to wonder how he knows for item #1 that #1 really isn’t tasty…?) Here. Comb. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/24 "2005-05-10T14:35:34Z")
Humans do some really whacky shit if their religion/culture says they should do it. We didn’t evolve to lop of the foreskin of newborn male children either yet millions regularly go through with it and regard it as normal. Compared to that, urine drinking seems positively conformist. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/25 "2005-05-10T14:43:52Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Humans do some really whacky shit if their religion/culture says they should do it. We didn’t evolve to lop of the foreskin of newborn male children either yet millions regularly go through with it and regard it as normal. Compared to that, urine drinking seems positively conformist. Its scary how rational this is. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/26 "2005-05-10T18:17:26Z")
I hope someone can confirm this, but I think that the clear urine that is discharged after drinking lots and lots of water would be more sterile than the urine that is discharged in the early morning. I mean, once it stays in your system for a while, it turns yellow. So a healthy athletic person would have the clear urine which is sterile. While a person who urinates infrequently might have the yellow urine with more bacteria and more uric acid. ---
**Author:** ![Helix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e19adc/32.png) [@Helix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helix)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/27 "2005-05-10T18:35:25Z")
Hmmmm … drinking urine. Sterile or not. Maybe after a couple of weeks in the desert and no other options. Most famous urine drinker? M. Ghandi? ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/28 "2005-05-10T18:37:29Z")
Here’s a Straight Dope column (with updates and appendices) on this subject. My favorite phrase from it is referring to people using urine as “battlefield Bactine.” > **[Why are men supposed to wash their hands after urination? Plus: urine therapy!](https://www.straightdope.com/21342195/why-are-men-supposed-to-wash-their-hands-after-urination-plus-urine-therapy)** > > Dear Cecil: > First, an (elderly) joke. > A Harvard man and a Yale man are at the urinal. They finish and zip up. The Harvard man proceeds to the sink to wash his hands, while the Yale man immediately... ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/29 "2005-05-10T18:41:02Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > I hope someone can confirm this, but I think that the clear urine that is discharged after drinking lots and lots of water would be more sterile than the urine that is discharged in the early morning. “Yellow” isn’t septic, though. Clear urine may be “cleaner” in the sense that it has less “stuff” in solution, but that doesn’t make it more sterile. A compound called (appropriately) “urochrome” is what makes urine yellow. It’s not bacterial. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_in_second_hand_clothing)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/30 "2005-05-10T18:44:27Z")
Don’t we have urea more than uric acid? Anyway, as they are both ways of getting rid of ammonia, doesn’t that make it slightly antiseptic? I heard that if you pee on your feet in gym showers, it will keep you from getting athlete’s foot. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/31 "2005-05-10T19:05:06Z")
> [@Helix](#): > > Hmmmm … drinking urine. Sterile or not. Maybe after a couple of weeks in the desert and no other options. > > Most famous urine drinker? M. Ghandi? You’d still be better off not drinking it. It will just dehydrate you more. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Mahma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@Joe\_Mahma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Mahma)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/32 "2005-05-10T19:50:51Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > I hope someone can confirm this, but I think that the clear urine that is discharged after drinking lots and lots of water would be more sterile than the urine that is discharged in the early morning. > > I mean, once it stays in your system for a while, it turns yellow. So a healthy athletic person would have the clear urine which is sterile. While a person who urinates infrequently might have the yellow urine with more bacteria and more uric acid. Urine is sterile in a healthy individual regardless of how concentrated it is. More yellow=more concentrated. It doesn’t “turn yellow once it stays in your system for awhile”. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/33 "2005-05-11T00:26:43Z")
For all the naysayers and nonbelievers, please look [here](http://www.freedomdomain.com/health/jesus_diet.html). Your life will never be the same. Well praise pee, urine heaven now. And me too. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/34 "2005-05-11T01:31:24Z")
I believe I read somewhere once that urine was used as a treatment for jellyfish stings if there was no other treatment available. ---
**Author:** ![daffyduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ec9cab/32.png) [@daffyduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffyduck)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/35 "2005-05-11T01:47:09Z")
> [@Snakescatlady](#): > > I believe I read somewhere once that urine was used as a treatment for jellyfish stings if there was no other treatment available. [Friends: The one with the jellyfish](http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-71/epid-418/) ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/36 "2005-05-11T04:03:31Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > I hope someone can confirm this, but I think that the clear urine that is discharged after drinking lots and lots of water would be more sterile than the urine that is discharged in the early morning. > > I mean, once it stays in your system for a while, it turns yellow. So a healthy athletic person would have the clear urine which is sterile. While a person who urinates infrequently might have the yellow urine with more bacteria and more uric acid. I’m afraid I can’t confirm that. That would be because it’s completely wrong. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156/37 "2005-05-11T05:38:49Z")
Friends, while we’re talking about urine, keep this in mind: 1. sterile is not the same thing as antiseptic. Urine does not kill bacteria, at least not in any sufficient quantities. 2. concentrated is not the same thing as septic. Yellow color of urine is caused by sterile chemicals, not by germs. 3. sterile things only stay sterile if sterile procedures are followed. The moment urine leaves your body, it is infiltrated with bacteria that thrive on nitrogen compounds, turning it into ammonia. 4. Using urine for wound treatment is a last resort for when a wound needs cleaning and you have no other suitable irrigant. It is better to introduce urine to the wound than leave dirt in it, but still not a highly desirable situation. The best case scenario, of course, would be to irrigate it with sterile saline. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-urine-inherently-septic/303156.md?page=1)