The impact of sulfur dioxide on human health (literature review)

A current area of preventive medicine is the study of the impact of chemical air pollutants on human health. Sulfur dioxide is one of the most common air pollutants, which is widely used in industry and has numerous natural and manmade sources of origin.

The aim of the study. To conduct an analysis of up-to-date literary sources devoted to the investigations of the influence of sulfur dioxide on human health for an in-depth study of its role in the development of diseases and the proposal of effective measures for their prevention.

The search for literary sources was conducted among domestic and foreign scientific reports indexed in databases eLIBRARY.ru, PubMed, Google Scholar, MedLine, Web of Science, Scopus.

Conclusion. The data analysis showed sulfur dioxide to be a moderately hazardous substance (hazard class III) in high concentrations. Under prolonged exposure it contributes to the development of respiratory diseases, as well as cardiovascular, digestive, immune, endocrine systems, blood diseases, and can stimulate susceptibility to carcinogens. Particular sensitivity to the effects of sulfur dioxide in children has been proven. It is one of the main pollutants of the air in the workplaces of metallurgical and gas processing enterprises, also causing workers to develop respiratory diseases and changes in the immune status. At the same time, there was shown the role of endogenous sulfur dioxide as an effective gas transmitter. To reduce the impact of sulfur dioxide on health, it is necessary to implement a set of technological, management, and medical measures.

Contribution:
Kislitsyna V.V. – concept and design of the study, collection and analysis of literature data, writing the text, editing;
Bugaeva M.S. – collection and analysis of literature data, writing the text, editing;
Surzhikov D.V. – collection and analysis of literature data;
Shtaiger V.A. – collection of literature data.
All co-authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: August 28, 2025 / Accepted: September 19, 2025 / Published: October 20, 2025

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