Sulfur Dioxide

A pungent gas born when sulfur burns. As a bleach it whitens paper and pulp; as a wine antioxidant (sulfite) it guards flavor; as a fumigant it protects food — it is full of protective power. Yet the same force pollutes the air as volcanic gas and, dissolving in water into sulfurous acid, brings acid rain. Protection and destruction are two edges of one blade. A stern purifier who, intolerant of ambiguity, knows better than anyone that justice taken too far becomes harm.