Most Abundant Elements in the Human Body

About This Dataset

This chart ranks the ten most abundant chemical elements in the human body by mass. Four elements, oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, make up about 96% of body mass, forming the water, proteins, fats and DNA that sustain life.

✨ AI Insight

The human body is built from remarkably few elements. Oxygen alone accounts for 65% of body mass, largely because the body is roughly 60% water. Carbon (18%), the backbone of all organic molecules, ranks second, followed by hydrogen (10%) and nitrogen (3%). These four elements together comprise about 96% of the body. The remaining mass comes mostly from calcium (1.4%) and phosphorus (1.1%), the mineral components of bones and teeth. Trace elements such as potassium, sulfur, sodium and chlorine each contribute only about 0.15% to 0.25%, yet are essential for nerve signalling, fluid balance and metabolism. The pattern mirrors the chemistry of water and organic life rather than the composition of Earth's crust.

Source: Composition of the human body (CRC Handbook)

Key Findings

Auto-computed highlights from this dataset

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Oxygen leads with 65 in All Time.

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Average value in All Time: 10 · median: 1.

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Gap in All Time: Oxygen is 433.3× larger than Chlorine.