• Phosphorus is common in sedimentary rocks where living things died, fell to the bottom of the ocean, and were pressed into rock and then lifted into mountains. When water erodes the rock, the phosphorus dissolves and becomes available for use by plants and animals. When those plants and animals die, bacteria cause decomposition which allows the phosphorus to be taken up by a different plant or animal. It’s been estimated that a single atom of phosphorus can be caught up in this ongoing cycle for 100,000 years or more. Eventually the plant or animal falls into a deep part of the ocean, turns into rock, and is lifted up as mountains where it is eroded by water, and so the cycle starts over again.
• Phosphorus is essential for life. Although only 1% of the human body is composed of phosphorus, it’s still the body’s second most abundant mineral, with calcium coming out on top. Phosphorus and calcium work together to build bones and teeth, where about 85% of the body’s phosphorus is found. There are about 26.5 ounces (750 g) of it in the average human body, mostly in the bones.
• Phosphorus helps filter out waste in the kidneys, is used in the structure of DNA, and plays an essential role in how the body stores and uses energy. It also helps reduce muscle pain after a workout. Excess phosphorus is excreted from the body in urine.
• Many different types of foods contain phosphorus, including dairy products, meats and poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, legumes, vegetables, and grains. It’s also available as a supplement.
• Phosphorus is essential in many different industries. There are several kinds of phosphorus but the most common are red phosphorus and white phosphorus. Red phosphorus is used in matches, fertilizers, cleansers, and pesticides. White phosphorus is used in fireworks, weaponry, and flares.
• White phosphorus is dangerous because it bursts into flame when it’s exposed to air. White phosphorus bombs splatter incendiary matter in all directions, and the only way to put out the fire is to submerge it in water. It will re-ignite the moment it’s exposed to air again. Red phosphorus is less flammable, less toxic, and more stable than white phosphorus.
• Phosphorus fumes are poisonous. Workers in early-day match factories suffered from an ailment called “phossy jaw” when the bones in their jaw deteriorated due to contact with white phosphorus fumes. The problem was resolved when match factories began using red phosphorus instead of white.
• Phosphorus was discovered by German alchemist Hennig Brand in 1669. He was trying to figure out how to turn substances into gold, and thought urine might be key. Brand collected 1,500 gallons (5,678 l) of human urine. He boiled it down until it was the consistency of paste, then distilled it. He separated the various components and noted that one of them, a white waxy substance, glowed in the dark. The fumes from distilling it burned, and when it was dried, it would burst into flame. The only way to get it to stop burning was to submerge it in water. If it were removed from the water, it would burst into flame again.
• Brand named the new substance after the Greek words “phos” means light and “phorus” means bearer. Henning Brand was the first person to discover a new chemical element. After six years of experimentation, Brand sold his “recipe” because he was broke.
• In the late 1800s a scientist in Edinburgh developed an electric furnace method for producing the element from phosphate rock, which is essentially the method employed today. About 95% of phosphate mined in the U.S. is used to make fertilizer or food supplements for animals.
