What if oxygen is actually slowly poisonous and it just takes 75–100 years to kill us?

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Your hypothesis is 100% correct.

Let me state that again

Your hypothesis is 100% correct.

Let’s start with a little background.

You should immediately recognize what this is. Rust/Corrosion. Or less commonly known as oxidation (or the effect thereof).

Now this also occurs inside your mitochondria when it turns glucose into ATP. There are also many other biological processes that require oxidization as a catalyst for the reaction, hence your bodies requirement for oxygen to survive.

Can you survive without oxygen? Nope.

When this occurs, the reaction results in a left over electron, or many left over electrons, which are referred to as Free Radicals.

These little buggers cause cell damage and a variety of other not-conducive-to-life processes. While it remains true that oxygen is a basic requirement for “most” life on planet earth, the chemical reactions that occur generally have bad side effects.

Your body naturally produces antioxidants to try and limit the damage caused by these little buggers - but eventually the damage aggregates into a final transition… death by old age (If you believe the Free Radical Theory of Aging).

Now let’s go back to the question… what constitutes a poison?

In biology, poisons are substances that cause disturbances in organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when an organism absorbs a sufficient quantity. (Link)

Does oxygen cause a disturbance in organisms, by chemical reaction or some other activity on the molecular scale, when an organism absorbs a sufficient quantity?

It sure does!

Now isn’t that bitter sweet irony.