Urine Odors

I don't have a medical answer per se, but I have worked as a elderly care provider and can tell you from experience that prolonged exposure to the high ammonia concentration does affect the membranes of the nose and throat. We have a cat that has been a bit of a problem pee-er and have found that Bio-Kleen Bac-Out gets the odor out. I've never tried it on a large area (such as the entire bed mattress), but have used it quite successfully on smaller areas such as the carpet or couch.

If the child has a pre-existing condition such as asthma or migranes, the strong odor may cause enough irritation to trigger an episode.

Other than that many people just think it's not hygienic because, where there is odor, there usually is urine... and while even that won't make most people sick (in a healthy animal urine is sterile), there is a possibility that it can harbor germs.

I don't know if exposure to urine odor is harmful but if you can smell it then the bacteria is in the air.
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I can't give you a medical answer but I can give you an answer based on experience. The odor of urine is non-toxic. I've personally seen many healthy children living in homes that had a strong urine smell and they were healthy.

I don't really understand the reason for your question. I suppose what caused the urine smell could influence the answer.

I'm guessing your son is often with an elderly person, perhaps in a nursing home, or that your cat is incontinent. Again, the smell is not toxic tho it surely does smell bad and makes visiting difficult. I and my daughter have experienced both. She's now 28 and healthy. Neither of us had any health problems that could possibily be related to urine odor.

I go to WebMD for medical quesions. Have you tried googling "urine smell and health?" or something like that. Perhaps "medical effect of urine smell on children." You might get some answers from just googling "urine" or "urine smell/odor."

Hi S.,

Urine can (although it is pretty rare) harbor contaminates/pathogens that would effect the respiratory system if inhaled but usually you would notice that the person or cat is having urinary difficulties such as UTI symptoms. Healthy people and cats have sterile urine (meaning no germs/pathogens). I supposed it would be possible to have a respiratory reaction to the nitrogenous compounds in the urine if large quantities of urine were left sitting out and not soaked up by litter or flushed down the toilet.

If the urine has a strong odor to it or there are symptoms of a UTI then it would be safest to have a urinalysis done to confirm that everything is okay with person or cat producing the urine.

Hope that helps,
S.