Extremely sharp, choking, acrid gas reminiscent of struck matches, burnt gunpowder, and volcanic fumes. Intensely irritating to the nose and eyes, with a suffocating mineral bite and no sweetness or roundness. Not a perfumery material in any conventional sense — it is a toxic irritant gas.AI · claude-opus-4-7
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Perfume and Flavor Chemicals, page 1269.
Colorless gas. Condenses to a colorless liquid below minus 10° C.
Soluble in water at room temperature, 4% at 50°C. 25% soluble in alcohol.
Stinging, suffocating odor, irritating to the mucous membranes. Sharp, acid taste in aqueous solution.
Sharp, acid taste in aqueous solution.
Sulfur dioxide is widely used as a bleaching agent and disinfectant for fruits, fruit juices, concentrated fruit juices, dried fruits, wines, beer, storage tanks, etc. It is also used for bleaching of sugar.
The concentration of the title material in finished food is therefore generally limited to a few ppm up to 400 ppm (near taste level). It is also widely used in treatment of meats and fish.
Sulfur dioxide is commercially available in pressure flasks as a liquid. It was formerly produced by burning of sulfur, e.g. sulfur sticks were ignited and left burning inside storage tanks, etc. for disinfection.