The Oxygen Catastrophe occurred 2.2 billion years ago ... perhaps only one species survived, the one making the oxygen ... believed to be a cyanobacteria ... anything that evolved after that date is protected against corrosion by Oxygen ... in fact, most all cellular life utilizes this corrosion in respiratory metabolism ... sugar + O
2 --> CO
2 + H
2O + energy ...
Beyond that, Oxygen is ubiquitous in all of biology ... no exceptions ... consider one of the simplest of amino acids ... Alanine ... chemical formula C
3H
7NO
2 ... those two Oxygen atoms make up the "acid" side group and is common to all amino acids and is required for amino acids to bond to each other to form proteins ... no Oxygen, no proteins ... life would be considerably different if it existed at all without Oxygen ...
From
"How Stuff Works":
"The astronauts in the Gemini and Apollo programs breathed 100 percent oxygen at reduced pressure for up to two weeks with no problems. In contrast, when 100 percent oxygen is breathed under high pressure (more than four times that of atmospheric pressure), acute oxygen poisoning can occur ..." and "Such high oxygen pressures can be experienced by military
SCUBA divers using rebreathing devices, divers being treated for the bends in hyperbaric chambers or patients being treated for acute carbon monoxide poisoning."
Iron is an essential nutrient ... but is as deadly as lead with a 1,100 feet/second muzzle velocity ...