Quote Originally Posted by Craterus
All the chemicals in the human body have a combined value of approximately £4.
Hate to tell you this...but that's w...w...wr...wrong!

Right, Let's start with the compostition of the human body by weight (ignoring some of the smallest trace elements):
%
Oxygen 65
Carbon 18
Hydrogen 10
Nitrogen 1.5
Calcium 3
Phosphorus 1
Potassium 0.35
Sulphur 0.25
Sodium 0.15
Chlorine 0.15
Magnesium 0.05
Iron 0.0004
Iodine 0.00004

Now, let's assume we have someone weighing 70kg (thats around 11 stone, your average person). That means by weight we have the following amount of elements:
Oxygen 45.5kg
Carbon 12.6kg
Hydrogen 7kg
Nitrogen 2.1kg
Calcium 1.05kg
Phosphorus 0.7kg
Potassium 0.245kg
Sulphur 0.175kg
Sodium 0.105kg
Chlorine 0.105kg
Magnesium 0.035kg
Iron 0.00028kg
Iodine 0.000028kg

Now, we need to know he prices for these commodities, I've looked up the prices in a chemical catalogue i found at school, and assumed chemicals of average quality because most of us are average people!

Oxygen 45.5kg 13.66 pounds for 3,264kg = 0.19 pounds
carbon 12.6kg 6.90 pounds per kilo = 86.94 pounds
Hydrogen 7kg 28.05 pounds for 115.6kg = 1.70
Nitrogen 2.1kg 15.53 pounds for 2525.6kg = 0.01 pounds
Calcium 1.05kg 3.70 pounds per 25g = 155.40 pounds
Phosphorus 0.7kg 6.90 pounds per 100g = 48.30 pounds
potassium 0.245kg 6.90 pounds per 100g = 339.14 pounds
sulphur 0.175kg 6.90 pounds per 100g = 1.15 pounds
sodium 0.105kg 17.35 pounds per 100g = 18.22 pounds
chlorine 0.105kg 68.18 pounds per 33kg = 0.22 pounds
Magnesium 0.025 68.18 pounds per 33kg = 0.83 pounds
Iron 0.00028kg 4.65 pounds per kilo = 0.001302 pounds
Iodine 0.000028kg 6.00 pounds per 100g = 0.0017 pounds

This gives the value of the human body as 652.10 Pounds Sterling