Our body is assembled from the elements listed on the Periodic table. Some elements are much more common than others. The human body is approximately 99% comprised of just six elements: Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, calcium, and phosphorus.
The elements that make up our body are used to make the colors in fireworks in the sky. The vivid colors and bright hues that result from these chemical elements that are also essential for life.
Calcium is the most plentiful mineral in the human body and is needed to make orange fireworks. It’s crucial for a range of bodily functions including bone and teeth maintenance, muscle contraction, hormone secretion, blood clotting and heartbeat regulation.
Potassium, which helps create purple fireworks, also plays a role in managing heart rhythm. In addition, it balances water and mineral content in the body, helps to build muscle, and controls blood pressure.
Copper, found in bright blue fireworks, is the sidekick that some proteins need to do their jobs. For example, the protein that makes the body’s energy-carrying ATP molecules requires copper to function. Copper is also necessary to form collagen, the most abundant protein in humans and the main component of connective tissue.
Iron, used to make gold fireworks, is vital to immune function, energy production and oxygen transport in the body. Hemoglobin, the protein that gives blood its red color, needs iron to carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.
Lithium helps produce red fireworks and is thought to affect the release of the chemical messenger serotonin. Lithium has been used for decades to treat mood disorders
Phosphorus is the second most common element found in our body after calcium. The mineral Phosphorus is contained in each cell in our body. Most phosphorus is in the bones and teeth, and some is in our genes.
The heat generated by friction when a match is struck causes a minute amount of red phosphorus to be converted to white phosphorus, which ignites spontaneously in air.
The word phosphorus is derived from the Greek word 'phosphoros', meaning bringer of light.
Our body needs phosphorus to make energy. Phosphorus is needed for the growth, maintenance, and repair of all tissues and cells, and for the production of the genetic building blocks, DNA and RNA.
Without Phosphorus, our light goes out! Then it is DUST TO DUST.
