Should You Pee In the Sea?

Should You Pee In the Sea? Someone Actually Did a Study. Here's What They Found

You know peeing in a swimming pool is totally unhealthy for you and everyone else in it. But what about relieving yourself in the ocean?

In May, Proctor and Gamble revealed results of its “Don’t pee in the sea" survey.

Out of 1009 beachgoing adults, 62 percent said they’ve urinated in the ocean.

But is pee bad for the ocean?

The American Chemical Society produced a fun video as part of their "Reactions" series. In the video, ACS explains urine is more than 95 percent water. It also contains sodium and chloride ions.

By comparison, the ocean is 96.5 percent water, and has even higher concentrations of sodium and chloride than urine. Urine and sea water also contain small amounts of potassium.

The main waste product in urine is urea, which is a non-toxic organic compound that contains lots of nitrogen.

Nitrogen and water together produce ammonium, a fertilizer that feeds ocean plant life.

Plus, you have to consider that every animal that lives in the ocean also does their business there, too.

So if they’re not harming the ocean, you’re not either.

Watch the video here

*Original story: The Weather Channel via Google News (search term: sea)
**Image credits: StaticFlickr (CC 2.0)
**Video credits: Youtube/Reactions