• Unforeseen@sh.itjust.works
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      10 months ago

      That’s a myth.

      From wikipedia:

      Bacteria and pathogens

      Urine is not sterile, not even in the bladder.[21][22] In the urethra, epithelial cells lining the urethra are colonized by facultatively anaerobic Gram-negative rod and cocci bacteria.[23] One study conducted in Nigeria isolated a total of 77 distinct bacterial strains from 100 healthy children (ages 5–11) as well as 39 strains from 33 cow urine samples, a considerable amount being pathogens.[24]

      • gandalf_der_12te@feddit.de
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        10 months ago

        Ok, thanks for the note.

        Apparently, fresh urine is not completely sterile, but almost sterile.
        In the german Wikipedia, it says:

        Da auch die untere Harnröhre nicht völlig keimfrei ist, enthält Urin beim Austritt bis zu 10.000 Keime pro Milliliter. Allerdings sind diese in der Regel gesundheitlich unbedenklich und indizieren in dieser geringen Konzentration insbesondere keine Antibiothika-Therapie.[65][66] Zum Vergleich: Speichel enthält rund 100 Millionen Keime pro Milliliter.[67]

        Translation: “Basically, urine contains 10^4 germs per millilitre. That’s very low count, considering saliva contains 10^8 germs per millilitre. […]”

        (Translation by me)

        I got that wrong in my head. Probably, everything is only almost sterile, not completely sterile, except if you look at another planet. But for practical purposes, the number of germs is often negligible.

        Apparently, they used to pee on each other’s wounds in earlier times to disinfect wounds. Since pee was much closer to being sterile than anything else they had access to. So that’s where this thought comes from. (Source: Someone told me this years ago.)

    • xx3rawr@sh.itjust.works
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      10 months ago

      I feel like this misconception is because of the survival tactic of drinking piss over sea water. It’s not sterile, just more edible than sea water.