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Sulfur dioxide is a heavy, colourless, poisonous gas with a pungent, irritating odour familiar as the smell of a just-struck match. Occurring in nature in volcanic gases and in solution in the waters of some warm springs, sulfur dioxide usually is prepared industrially by the burning in air or oxygen of sulfur or such compounds of sulfur as iron pyrite or copper pyrite. Large quantities of sulfur dioxide are formed in the combustion of sulfur-containing fuels; in the second half of the 20th century, measures to control atmospheric pollution by this compound were widely adopted. In the laboratory the gas may be prepared by reducing sulfuric acid (H2SO4) to sulfurous acid (H2SO3), which decomposes into water and sulfur dioxide, or by treating sulfites (salts of sulfurous acid) with strong acids, such as hydrochloric acid, again forming sulfurous acid.

Sulfur dioxide can be liquefied under moderate pressures at room temperatures; the liquid freezes at -73° C (-99.4° F) and boils at -10° C (+14° F) under atmospheric pressure. Although its chief uses are in the preparation of sulfuric acid, sulfur trioxide, and sulfites, sulfur dioxide also is used as a disinfectant, a refrigerant, a bleach, and a food preservative, especially in dried fruits.