How Much Gold is in Our Poop?

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Because of the way digestion works, human poop not only contains dangerous microbes, it also contains a wide variety of other things, many of which we could potentially put to use.
LEARN MORE
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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
- Pathogens: Organisms that can cause disease.
- Reuse of Human Excreta: The safe and beneficial use of treated human poop.
- Biogas: A renewable energy source that’s a combination of methane and carbon dioxide.
- Black soldier fly larvae: Among the most efficient animals at converting biomass into feed.
- Biosolids: Solid organic matter retrieved from the sewage treatment process that can be used as fertilizer among other uses.
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CREDITS
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David Goldenberg | Script Writer, Narrator and Director
Lizah van der Aart | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation
Nathaniel Schroeder | Music
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC
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REFERENCES
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Rose C, Parker A, Jefferson B, Cartmell E. (2015) The Characterization of Feces and Urine: A Review of the Literature to Inform Advanced Treatment Technology. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol. 2015 Sep 2;45(17):1827-1879. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Trimmer, C. (2016). SANITATION, WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY FROM WASTE DISPOSAL TO RESOURCE RECOVERY. UNEP. www.susana.org/_resources/doc...
Cornwall, W. (2015). Sewage sludge could contain millions of dollars worth of gold. Science. www.science.org/content/artic...
Paul Westerhoff, Sungyun Lee, Yu Yang, Gwyneth W. Gordon, Kiril Hristovski, Rolf U. Halden, and Pierre Herckes. (2015). Characterization, Recovery Opportunities, and Valuation of Metals in Municipal Sludges from U.S. Wastewater Treatment Plants Nationwide. Environmental Science & Technology 2015 49 (16), 9479-9488. pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/...
Debasree Purkayastha, Sudipta Sarkar. (2023) Performance evaluation of black soldier fly larvae fed on human faeces, food waste and their mixture. Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 326, Part A. www.sciencedirect.com/science...

[@theCodyReeder]

Wait. A kilogram from one ton!? How could rhey possibly be injesting that much gold by accident? The story smells funny to me.

[@user-zn4pw5nk2v]

Wouldn't surprise me if they also found 2 kg of copper just from dropped phones down the toilet. As the complement to the wedding rings.

[@RandomPerson-tz7wk]

It's probably from all the ring that fell into the toilet bowl

[@stupidkaijucrazy5548]

If a person accidentally eats 2g of gold from inhaling dust 1000 people can make 2kg assuming each person craps out 1 kg

[@1.4142]

"nearly 2 kilograms of gold in every metric ton of ash left from burning sludge"

[@MaddMo0n]

Btw, The article says that the 1 ton is not the poop itself but rather 1 ton of the ash produced after burning the 'sludge'/the goo after sewage treatment.

[@robertmouse3782]

The 2kg of gold per ton of poop is misleading. The article you reference specifies "1,890 grammes of gold per tonne of ash". Depending on how much weight is burned off in the incineration process the actual gold to poop ratio would look much different. Also, I would guess wastewater from cleaning processes at the manufacturies would be the more likely source than human injestion.

[@enderyu]

Thanks for the clarification, everyone seems a bit confused

[@MoonGlow22]

Considering how much Telephon and Rings fall to Toilet, 2kg Gold seems reasonable

[@gregakrmelj390]

​@MoonGlow22 if we presume that a human creates around 250g of feces per day, to get a ton you would need 4000 people. Now a gold ring weighs around 4g, which means that you would need to lose around 500 rings, or every eight person would have to lose a gold ring every day for this to make sense. If we switch to ash, which is around 12.5% of feces, we would need around 32,000 people that would lose 500 rings, so every 64th person would need to lose a ring daily. Safe to say, i dont think rings are the main contributor of gold in human waste.

[@DiceMaster740]

@@MoonGlow22 How often are you dropping a ring or a phone in the toilet? A typical gold ring for a man might weigh as much as 0.01 kg (10 grams), so you would need 200 gold rings per ton of poop for that to make sense. Phones have even less gold, with just 0.000034 kg (0.034 grams) of gold per phone. Perhaps the more important question, though, is why would you flush if you dropped a ring or a phone in the toilet?

[@QuantumHistorian]

It's highly misleading. Similarly, the chart at the start is missing the most important component of poo - water. Which makes up about 75% of feces. Obviously, that is all gone when you burn it and look at the ash that's left. Along with all the volatiles and much of the carbon content. We can probably estimate that it takes at least 10kg of "raw" poop to create 1kg of poop ash. But even upping that ratio to 1 : 50, taking that article at face value still means that "raw" poo is 1:25000 parts gold. If that gold was from dropped rings, it would mean that *an average person flushes a wedding ring down the toilet every year or so.* That's clearly not the case. I'm highly sceptical that said article is actually correct and would withstand a serious test of repeatability.

[@dingo-gorditas]

gonna send my mom this and then she's gonna regret throwing away all my poop jars

[@MinuteEarth]

oh my

[@deadheat1635]

💀

[@andrewmynhier7733]

Doodoo jar dingo

[@speebspeedy]

my mom found the pee drawer 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@richtigmann1]

wha~

[@octopusyogurt1883]

You forgot the most important use: chucking it at people you don’t like

[@aromaticsnail]

shit express anyone?

[@Garlic_Bread69]

Are you a chimpanzee

[@octopusyogurt1883]

@@aromaticsnail don’t tempt me…

[@gamingwithblueboy4563]

@@octopusyogurt1883hey it’s fine he’s just shitting around

[@Lahorca]

The way nature intended

[@erictaylor5462]

I knew a guy who was a sewage treatment engineer, on on a trip to Italy he had the chance to see the sewage treatment plant that serves Vatican City. The guy opened a door and my friend said, "Holy shit." The tour guide said, "Well, yes it is, but we deal with it just like any other crap."

[@izaacnelson340]

Why are the good bacteria so damn cute when they eat

[@mikhwanese]

it reminds me of bugcat capoo 😂😅

[@Not-Rich-Yet-Teenager]

💀😂😂😂

[@dragoncatoverload]

Edo period Japan had a whole industry around turning human poop into fertilizer

[@telotawa]

we should save the phosphorus, we're gonna run out of phosphorus rocks to mine eventually

[@autisticslav_]

No we won't. Our poop will become rock during time

[@warrenarnold]

Good idea, am starting my initiative on my own, saving some of my biggest dookie

[@ferretyluv]

Niue already did run out.

[@Not-Rich-Yet-Teenager]

​@warrenarnold 😂😂😂

[@jmonsted]

There's no way there's 2 kg of gold per ton of poop, even in an area with lots of goldsmiths. It's probably 2 _grams_ of gold per ton, which would still make it pretty good gold ore.

[@godminnette2]

Apparently it's 2kg per ton of ash from incineration, so who knows how many tons of raw feces goes into one ton of ash.

[@MaddMo0n]

The article says that the 1 ton is not the poop itself but rather 1 ton of the ash produced after burning the 'sludge'/the goo after sewage treatment.

[@majbach1968]

@@MaddMo0n Even then, 2kg of gold/ton is hard to believe.

[@DiceMaster740]

@@majbach1968 Why? Water alone makes up about 75%, which would be lost by burning, and then you have all the organic molecules that will easily burn off. I wouldn't be surprised if there was about a 99% reduction in mass from wet sewage sludge to ash (ie there would be 100 times as much gold in a ton of ash vs a ton of sewage), but I couldn't confirm that in about 5 minutes of googling

[@QuantumHistorian]

@@DiceMaster740 Even taking a 99% reduction it doesn't really add up. It comes down to about as much gold as if everyone flushed a gold ring down the toilet every 10 years or so.

[@justwhistlinpixie]

My city composts treated poop into soil! It sells out every summer because they actually run out of poop.

[@bustergundo516]

What a load of poop! 😂

[@weamibrahim2146]

Where is that

[@flightpointer]

genius

[@mr.boomguy]

Watching all of these poop related videos makes me think that we waste a lot of our waste

[@robrod7120]

2kg gold/1 ton of material makes that really, really high grade ore

[@mynameisben123]

The one tonne was ash, after being incinerated. Maybe it was 100 tons before being burnt.

[@robrod7120]

@@mynameisben123 Thanks for the clarification, that makes much more sense hahaha

[@johnnychang4233]

It could be if they were just tapping into those scam restaurant of Salt Bae Nusret that sell overpriced gold covered steaks.

[@phobosdeimos4598]

The thumbnail made me think I could use it to burn everything

[@marcopohl4875]

That is a potential use for the fat in it, I guess

[@Cr1ms0mGl0ry]

Some people just want to watch the world burn

[@LightPlayz1098]

Not the thumbnail anymore lol

[@tildessmoo]

There's also the problem of separating out all of the other chemicals (drugs recreational, otc, and prescription, all of which have to leave the body somehow; and various bathroom cleaners) in our sewage systems that we don't want going back into our fertilizer, livestock feed, etc.

[@IapetusStag]

The good bacteria that help you breakdown your food that unintentionally get flushed out of your body when pooping is like your company firing you from your job... XD

[@brokemono]

brings the whole "being a piece of shit at work" to another level.

[@IapetusStag]

@@brokemono damn. Nice pun xD

[@RealClassixX]

W-wait, protein? You're right! This is going to waste! I'M LOSING GAINS!

[@_____alyptic]

Wait, I thought it's to prevent you from getting sick from having too much unused protein

[@SuckleHoney]

2:34 “This looks like Robin from Stardew valley”, wait is that Maru! WAIT DEMETRIUS!! WAIT FARM ANIMALS!! HOW HAS NOBODY POINTED THIS OUT!

[@tinnguyenanimations522]

kurzgezagt: I will give you an existential crisis that will linger for days MinuteEarth: ME LIEK POOP

[@steegg]

you could’ve chosen any chart but stuck with a pie chart😂

[@un2mensch]

You had me at "fecal pie"

[@trchri]

“Eat recycled food. It’s good for the environment, and okay for you.” - Judge Dredd

[@TaLeng2023]

Dreg

[@marioreds7826]

6. dishes (if Ace Ventura When Nature Calls is anything to go by).

[@roman9563]

Thank you for this interesting content. 😊

[@flyingchong]

MinuteEarth, never failing to make me groan from the puns.

[@sylkates]

Kudos to the illustrator. The "good" bacteria munching on the food items are so weirdly cute that it made me laugh out loud. They're like :3

[@dryzalizer]

No mention of the medication residues in human sewage, that's in there too for so many people. Unfortunately, even very small amounts of this stuff is already causing problems. Hopefully they can be overcome.

[@DeathToMockingBirds]

A good way to make the poop safe is with a solar cooker toilet, that dries up the poop quickly, separating the fluids beforehand. With such toilets, we can use the dry, safe poop and use it directly in all the things mentionned in the video, or just great compost.

[@jimurrata6785]

The city of Minneapolis sells its sewage dry solids as Milorganite (sp?) A fertilizer

[@petersmythe6462]

I'm very skeptical about anything organic being that enriched in gold. Living things tend to have parts per billion of gold, not parts per thousand. You sure that isn't grams per kiloton rather than kg per tonne?

[@dinok7630]

Someone else pointed out its misleading because it reforms the name of the study into gold per poop when its actually something else.

[@thingamajuguer8986]

Brings a whole new meaning to "theres gold in them booty!"

[@Anarko55555]

Great video

[@lightice.i]

2:36 that’s a shitty house, incredible

[@Yoriiichi]

stopping poopy heads from saying first

[@archtansterpg4246]

I remember reading about a BioBus in England that ran on human waste. I never really heard anything about it ever since. It's kinda a shame, it's a pretty cool concept.

[@LightBringer127_dragonart]

Yeah we studied it in Geography last year, even though it was discontinued years ago. Shame. The teachers loved the PooBus

[@XRaym]

This seems to be porportion once the thing is dry, as water has been excluded, despite representing 75%.

[@AnimeShinigami13]

Mother earth news has articles on composting toilets, and there's also an incinolet brand toilet that burns everything. But they've known about turlets that compost for freakin ever.

[@laletemanolete]

Nature has always reused poop, but we forgot about that

[@babilon6097]

Maaan... you minted the topic for old the good puns. I'm left with only the crap ones. I'm your great fan and your poop video hit me straight.

[@tysonessenmacher2091]

Eating the gold, the employees hoped to recover it for themselves, it is the only explanation that fits the math.

[@MemphiStig]

I've often wondered how close what we eat is to poop eaters on the chain.

[@44Hd22]

2:11 I don’t think I can feel disgust.

[@oopsy444]

I almost wished I shat gold. It's gotta be doing some damage though

[@ThePaalanBoy]

This is without taking in consideration the cost and effects of processing and transporting these things.

[@mr.boomguy]

We already have a wide network of sewage

[@lloydangelomanalo6515]

i thought it had literal gold hahahaha

[@tamjedhossin3093]

Someone: your house is new model what's it made from? A:Poop

[@PhysicsPolice]

The music is too loud, especially the bass. I have good headphones and when the bassist plays I can barely hear your voice over it. Use good over-ear headphones when you balance the sound.

[@yyflower]

I'm just (selfishly) excited for the day I can afford a faecal transplant to fix my gut

[@PopeGoliath]

It's free with a can-do attitude and the right stranger from the Internet!

[@TaLeng2023]

"One day when you least expect it, you will shit on me" some random creeper from Jiz

[@caryymytank8300]

You would think that with millions of years of evolution, that our body would be efficient at expelling waste. Well, it is. Its just that our waste can be used for other stuff.

[@Amonimus]

From biological point, is it logical to excrete so much? Can't components be absorbed harder?

[@akeem2983]

I'm not a biologist, but I guess that all species of animals maintain balance between high amount of excreted "good stuff" and high energy consumption needed to squeeze more nutrientrs from the same amount of food. Sometimes it may be more logical to find more food instead of making digestive system more effective

[@johnnychang4233]

The tale of gold in poop sounds more feasible as smuggling.

[@MrMech_]

never forget how important a good title and thumbnail are for a video. the first one while more accurate, dosn't really bring the clicks.

[@mirroredchaos]

with all of this in mind we could theoretically sustain crops on mars from our own poop.....

[@shripperquats5872]

shit-grub-eating-chickens is not a term that I thought i'd ever cross paths with

[@shadowrylander]

Wait, is that Larry from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet at 3:04? 😹

[@dinonoobster4460]

At our country home, we do use our poop as well as animal poop as fertiliser.

[@dentheduck2095]

That one friend in your party trying to defend themselves after getting caught

[@feynstein1004]

3:01 Tywin Lannister would like to know their location

[@r3ziakd]

so a 100g of poo got like 10-15 grams of protein? what's the nutritional value of good microbes?

[@TheRossWilliams]

I am sure it would be 2g gold per tonne poop. Editors might thought it was typo for such a small number and changed from g to kg. But 2g gold per tonne of ore is high grade at most mines.

[@ristopoho824]

I have a small balcony power system. Would be cool to get some biogas on it. Though. It's literally balcony power and i live in an apartment. So. Eh. No.

[@rockateart9752]

We need a poop counter 💀💀

[@slayer2450]

PSA, if you have a healthy gut biome you can actually sell your poop. Though the chances of you actually getting approved is pretty low because they're only taking the best poo. You can search it up if you don't believe me.

[@user-sw4uh1rm2s]

im glad i saw this in less than an hour

[@akechijubeimitsuhide]

War flashbacks to Victor Hugo ranting about the exact same topic then giving a detailed history of the fucking sewer system

[@Ivo--]

So you're saying HALF our poop is bacteria? I had no idea.

[@alex_zetsu]

3:02 Wait what were they ingesting?

[@5u1c1dal24]

Munching through a pack off cheddar cheese slices watching a vid about poop. What a great way to end a friday evening 😂

[@BangladeshTheBest]

Good as always :)

[@Incred_Canemian]

And here I was throwing it out with the garbage

[@Nagria2112]

2kg per ton of poop is crazy - if that would be true world wide i would instantly found a company.

[@Darknimbus3]

2 kg = 70.548 oz per ton from the ash That ain’t bad! But what would that transfer to gold oz per ton from the raw sewage?

[@DlguyIsbad]

Im watching this video while I’m pooping. That’s ironic

[@J0eNez]

1000kg of shit contains 2kg of gold? Never ever, who claims that? Maybe 2g but never 2kg

[@yy-sf1xq]

Yeah that definitely seems like way too much. Using that number, at 150g per poop, these workers could make ~ 45€/$ Everytime they went to the toilet Even 2g seems like a stretch.

[@ghislainbugnicourt3709]

From other comments, it seems it's from 1t of the ash after burning the poop, so most of the original mass (water, carbon, hydrogen) is gone.

[@kairunongan1234]

"this video is sponsored by Dung Beetle"

[@RikerHaddon]

gold fecal reclamation is making me reconsider my previous belief that you can't polish a turd

[@closmasmas9080]

Why am I eating while watching this video

[@Freakhealer]

Cant wait to see on the stores "recycled food"

[@mihaleben6051]

Uh... put alcohol on the poop? Or like... something that kills the microbes.

[@rainbow_playz9284]

Saw this while scrolling and I was like🤔

[@casuallystalled]

While this video was about crap, these jokes are never crap

[@SIXSHAMAN]

0:40 Gojo has GI problems 😱

[@johannaverplank4858]

Hmmm, as an amateur silversmith, I wonder how much silver and gold metals are in my poo. Interesting.

[@aidenlevenduski3643]

Bro I may have to open a gold prosesing plant and a poop prossising plant

[@XRaym]

I'm really skeptical about the 1ton = 2kilo of gold claims, seems to good to be true. There has to be some bias of some sort like, poop not directly coming from people but being extracted from several kilometers of regular pipe systems, people being in a area with somehow mots of heavy metals, and maybe some media communication stuffs. The study has to be analyzed in details and replicate. 2kg of gold, is a loooooot.

[@Blackholefourspam]

Even the dangerous microbes are just more material waiting to be broken down

[@literallydoing4425]

I need to stop seeing how waste is saffer than people assume, it's really becoming an issue

[@fontende]

sewage is the continuation of collective human digestive system, basically a bioreactor, americans know this perfectly by using under sink a food waste disposer grinder, human bacteria continue to live and thrive there

[@rajbagwe3732]

2:58 *for every ton of ash that has been created by incinerating a lot more poop, they were able to reclaim about 2kg of gold.

[@SimonsAstronomy]

2 kilos from a ton is really much!!!!

[@iamnemyy]

I watched this while pooping.

[@georgecristiancripcia4819]

Very nice video

[@vcdrny]

So our body doesn't digest plant matter that good? One more thing to point out when someone trying to convince me we should be vegan or vegetarian. Thanks science!

[@MrCurlz]

Isn't it going back to the earth as it is?

[@davidjennings2179]

I wonder if people will get paid for their poop in the future...

[@ZR3009]

I don't think even a korean comic book "Why?" covering the topic about poops ever mentioned about this. Interesting to know xD

[@raynaldisugatamawiranata1578]

Ah you are right. In jadam korea farming human poop was used too

[@Arnold-ln7ij]

did i hear protein?

[@gordoawesome8590]

I should not be watching this during breakfast

[@SgtSupaman]

Yeah, they posted this right at lunch time for me...

[@ebonyblack4563]

File this under toilet thoughts.

[@matthewjungmann12]

Should have added 2 ticks to the counter at the end for flushshit

[@jdawg443]

I don't want any gold if poop's been on it.......