What nonmetals are essential to life?

At least 12 of the 28 elements considered necessary for life are nonmetals.

Carbon and hydrogen are components of organic compounds, which make up living things.

Without the phosphorus found in phospholipids and ATP, where would we be without carbohydrates, which also contain oxygen?

Without nitrogen, proteins and amino acids would not exist.

And these have to include the sulfur found in cysteine and methionine.

More than two dozen proteins that are essential for DNA synthesis, thyroid hormone metabolism, and reproduction contain selenium.

In most body fluids, chlorine, as chloride ion, is a necessary component.

As a component of the thyroxine molecule, a thyroid gland hormone that regulates growth, iodine is necessary for life.

Normal blood levels of testosterone and estrogen as well as bone health depend on boron.

Molecules involved in bone formation, cartilage composition, and cartilage calcification require silicon.

The most recent addition to the list of necessary nonmetals is bromine, or bromide ion, which functions as a cofactor to enable an enzyme involved in the synthesis of collagen.

Nearly an essential element, arsenic may be involved in the metabolism of methionine, though its significance for humans has not yet been established.

The elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur are nonmetals that are necessary for life.