Sulfur Dioxide is a moderate to strong irritant. Sulfur Dioxide when consumed, usually just penetrates the nose or throat, whereas it doesn't reach the lungs. Sulfur Dioxide only reaches lungs when a person is breathing heavily in chemical air filled with sulfur dioxide, or he is breathing it only through his mouth.
But when the sulfur dioxide concentration is extremely heavy in a particular closed space, SO2 can cause severe health diseases related to our lungs and air passage. Some such severe situations are-Hypoxemia, Pulmonary Edema and may even cause death in minutes. Severe exposure may cause permanent lung disease.
Skin contact with SO2 can cause irritation, liquid SO2 can cause burns due to freezing. Affected area will have numbness, prickling and itching. Blistering and Gangrene may occur. Exposure to SO2 without eye protection can cause severe corneal burns and could even damage the nerves in the eye. Sulfur Dioxide is one of those Oxygen compounds that are extremely harmful for human. One interesting fact about SO2 is that its the major component on the gas that is emitted from a volcano!!
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