Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: txgal301 on 09/01/2008 10:19:08
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I need to find out how I would go about testing an unknown liquid to see if it contains urine...
If you want to hear a crazy whacked out story continue reading...
On New Year's Eve my husband and I invited over 6 of our closest friends. Yes, some of us had issues in 2007, but we were celebrating the holiday together. Well, we woke up next morning to an awful smell which we tracked back to our stove top. I thought it smelt like pee then, but my husband assured me that a beer was probably spilled. Of course, what I was suggesting was unthinkable. Well, we cleaned it up. The "beer" had even spilled into a drawer of our pots and pans, we cleaned that up too. Okay, it's a week later and I have yet to cook on my stove because that smell has gotten stronger. So, today I literally removed my stove top. OMG, one of our "friends" peed in our stove. My husband is still in denial. Yada, yada, yada... local law enforcement suggested that I do an alkaline strip test compared with beer and urine. I didn't know who else to call for advice. My husband is still not satisfied. He wants to make sure it is urine before I start accusing people. HELP!!! [:(!]
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I think the alkaline strip test would be a good option.But even then, it still doesnt mean it was beer or pee..an answer will soon be on its way!
Good luck
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OK, so I live in a strange world but I have been asked this question a couple of times before. Urine can be acid or alkaline depending on what people have been drinking. Provided that it's the urine of a mammal, then the answer is to use a test based on the enzyme "urease" which cleaves urea to produce ammonia, then test for the presence of ammonia.
Unfortunately, the first time I was asked, the question concerned the possibillity of contamination by the urine of an iguana. Reptillian metabolism is different.