Final answer:
The extracellular fluid compartment includes interstitial fluid, blood plasma, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, pleural fluid, pericardial fluid, peritoneal fluid, aqueous humor, and lymph. These fluids are outside of cells and serve various functions in the body like nutrient delivery and waste removal. Cytoplasm is not part of the ECF, as it is within cells.
Step-by-step explanation:
The extracellular fluid (ECF) compartment includes various fluids that are outside of the cells within the human body. The main components of the ECF are interstitial fluid and blood plasma. Interstitial fluid bathes and surrounds the cells of multicellular animals, providing them with nutrients and a means of waste removal. It is found in the spaces between cells that are not blood cells. Blood plasma is the fluid component of blood that exists within the vascular system and communicates with the interstitial fluid.
Other constituents of the ECF include cerebrospinal fluid, which bathes the brain and spinal cord, synovial fluid within joints, pleural fluid in the pleural cavities, pericardial fluid around the heart, peritoneal fluid in the abdominal cavity, aqueous humor of the eye, and lymph. These fluids, while specialized, are still considered parts of the ECF because they exist outside of the cellular environment.
Notably, the extracellular fluid does not include cytoplasm (which is the fluid within cells, part of the intracellular fluid compartment) or other intracellular fluids found between membranes within the cell.