Urea!

After 40 years in the desert, my people developed skin conditions which have been with us for thousands of years in various forms. Yesterday I went to see my dermatologist to get the once over on my shell, and he gave me something to apply to the back of my arms where the skin is dry. It’s an abrasive moist cloth called Kerol, and the active ingredient is a little thing called urea. Maria, the RN at the office warned me that the cloths will stink due to it, but the odor will not stay on my skin. Urea, as in urine.

I’m rubbing 42% urine on myself.

I did a little research to find out exactly what urea is and what else it is used for, because if it was just as simple as dousing myself with piss I’d save myself the office visit, drink a Big Gulp, and stand in the shower.

Urea is made up of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen, noted as CON2H4 or (NH2)2CO or CN2H4O. Most living things have to deal with the nitrogen waste originating from protein and amino acid catabolism -- which in humans creates a toxic level of ammonia -- and in turn is converted to either urea or uric acid. Urea production occurs in the liver and, as essentially a waste product, it is dissolved in blood and excreted by the kidney in urine. In addition, a small amount of urea is excreted (along with sodium chloride and water) in human sweat. Damn, technical stuff is a dry read.

Though known for over 200 years, it was synthesized from inorganic starting materials in 1828, leading to large scale commercial production. Check out all the ways you take in urea, and how it is used around you:

• As a raw material for the manufacture of plastics

• As a raw material for the manufacture of various glues which are waterproof

• As a component of fertilizer and animal feed

• As an alternative to rock salt in the deicing of roadways and runways that does not promote metal corrosion to the extent that salt does

• As an additive ingredient in cigarettes, designed to enhance flavor

• Sometimes used as a browning agent in factory-produced pretzels

• As an ingredient in some hair conditioners, facial cleansers, bath oils and lotions

• It is also used as a reactant in some ready-to-use cold compresses for first-aid use (there is an endothermic reaction when mixed with water

• Used, along with salts, as a cloud seeding agent to expedite the condensation of water in clouds

• As a flame-proofing agent

• As a clean burning fuel for motor vehicles and stationary engines

• As a NOx-reducing reactant in combustion exhaust streams, especially diesel

• As an ingredient in many tooth whitening products

That, my friends, is some science being dropped on you about urea and it’s widespread benefits. Nasty as it may seem, it does a lot of good – don’t let those German and Japanese videos fool you.