See Also: sulfur dioxide(dictionary)
sulfur dioxide(medicine)
sulfur dioxide(encyclopedia)
sulfur-sulfur bond isomerases(medicine)
dioxide(dictionary)
Dioxide(medicine)
dioxide(dictionary)
thorium dioxide(medicine)
titanium dioxide(medicine)
carbon dioxide(dictionary)

sulfur dioxide (sh)




Inorganic compound, heavy, colourless, poisonous gas (SO2).

It has a pungent, irritating odour (the smell of a just-struck match). It occurs in volcanic gases and dissolved in the waters of some warm springs. Huge quantities are made industrially for use as a bleach, as a reducing agent, and as sulfites, which are food preservatives. It is a precursor of the trioxide (SO3), used to make sulfuric acid. Sulfur dioxide is formed when sulfur-containing fuels are burned; in the atmosphere it can combine with water vapour to form sulfuric acid, a major component of acid rain.