Acute and chronic sulphur dioxide (SO2) exposure: an overview of its effects on humans and laboratory animals.

Sulphur dioxide (SO2) is a common air pollutant found both in indoor and outdoor environments. Studies of controlled human exposure as well as epidemiological and animal investigations have documented several short- and long-term effects of SO2 exposure on the respiratory and other systems. Exercise, duration and other exposure factors may potentiate the pollutant's effects, especially in sensitive individuals such as children and asthmatics. Early postnatal somatic and behavioural alterations have been shown after maternal SO2 exposure, during pregnancy and neonatal exposure. Such exposure should be considered as a complex toxic hazard which may interfere with the developmental processes in the offspring.