Phosphate is needed to replace the phosphorus that plants remove from the soil, and its annual demand is rising nearly twice as fast as the growth of the human population.

White phosphorus is highly flammable and pyrophoric (self-igniting) in air; it faintly glows green and blue in the dark when exposed to oxygen.

[23] After prolonged heating or storage, the color darkens (see infobox images); the resulting product is more stable and does not spontaneously ignite in air.

[31][32] A reaction with oxygen takes place at the surface of the solid (or liquid) phosphorus, forming the short-lived molecules HPO and P2O2 that both emit visible light.

The half-integer nuclear spin and high abundance of 31P make phosphorus-31 NMR spectroscopy a very useful analytical tool in studies of phosphorus-containing samples.

These are: The high-energy beta particles from 32P penetrate skin and corneas and any 32P ingested, inhaled, or absorbed is readily incorporated into bone and nucleic acids.

The high energy of the beta particles gives rise to secondary emission of X-rays via Bremsstrahlung (braking radiation) in dense shielding materials such as lead.

[37] In 2020, astronomers analysed ALMA and ROSINA data from the massive star-forming region AFGL 5142, to detect phosphorus-bearing molecules and how they are carried in comets to the early Earth.

Being triprotic, phosphoric acid converts stepwise to three conjugate bases: Phosphate exhibits a tendency to form chains and rings containing P-O-P bonds.

Unlike the corresponding esters, they do not undergo a variant of the Michaelis-Arbuzov reaction with electrophiles, instead reverting to another phosphorus(III) compound through a sulfonium intermediate.

[21] Working in Hamburg, Brand attempted to create the fabled philosopher's stone through the distillation of some salts by evaporating urine, and in the process produced a white material that glowed in the dark and burned brilliantly.

[21] Later he improved Brand's process by using sand in the reaction (still using urine as base material), Robert Boyle was the first to use phosphorus to ignite sulfur-tipped wooden splints, forerunners of modern matches, in 1680.

The method started by roasting bones, then employed the use of fire clay retorts encased in a very hot brick furnace to distill out the highly toxic elemental phosphorus product.

(An apocryphal tale tells of a woman attempting to murder her husband with white phosphorus in his food, which was detected by the stew's giving off luminous steam).

[62] The Allies used phosphorus incendiary bombs in World War II to destroy Hamburg, the place where the "miraculous bearer of light" was first discovered.

The countries with most phosphate rock commercial reserves (in billion metric tons): Morocco 50, China 3.2, Egypt 2.8, Algeria 2.2, Syria 1.8, Brazil 1.6, Saudi Arabia 1.4, South Africa 1.4, Australia 1.1, United States 1.0, Finland 1.0, Russia 0.6, Jordan 0.8.

[91] Economists have pointed out that price fluctuations of rock phosphate do not necessarily indicate peak phosphorus, as these have already occurred due to various demand- and supply-side factors.

[93] In 1609 Garcilaso de la Vega wrote the book Comentarios Reales in which he described many of the agricultural practices of the Incas prior to the arrival of the Spaniards and introduced the use of guano as a fertilizer.

[94] In the early 1800s Alexander von Humboldt introduced guano as a source of agricultural fertilizer to Europe after having discovered it on islands off the coast of South America.

The Soil Association, the UK organic agriculture certification and pressure group, issued a report in 2010 "A Rock and a Hard Place" encouraging more recycling of phosphorus.

Agricultural methods such as no-till farming, terracing, contour tilling, and the use of windbreaks have been shown to reduce the rate of phosphorus depletion from farmland.

Although this method has maintained civilizations for centuries the current system of manure management is not logistically geared towards application to crop fields on a large scale.

NTD is a far less common doping method than diffusion or ion implantation, but it has the advantage of creating an extremely uniform dopant distribution.

These matches (and subsequent modifications) were made with heads of white phosphorus, an oxygen-releasing compound (potassium chlorate, lead dioxide, or sometimes nitrate), and a binder.

Nonetheless, safety matches, invented in 1844 by Gustaf Erik Pasch and market ready by the 1860s, did not gain consumer acceptance until the prohibition of white phosphorus.

[131] An average adult human contains about 0.7 kilograms (1.5 lb) of phosphorus, about 85–90% in bones and teeth in the form of apatite, and the remainder in soft tissues and extracellular fluids.

Too much phosphate can lead to diarrhoea and calcification (hardening) of organs and soft tissue, and can interfere with the body's ability to use iron, calcium, magnesium, and zinc.

[41] The U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) updated Estimated Average Requirements (EARs) and Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for phosphorus in 1997.

Promptly debride the burn if the patient's condition will permit removal of bits of WP (white phosphorus) that might be absorbed later and possibly produce systemic poisoning.

[145] For this reason, red and white phosphorus were designated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration as List I precursor chemicals under 21 CFR 1310.02 effective on November 17, 2001.