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Hydrogen Sulfide Health Effects

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is also known as dihydrogen sulfide, hydrosulfuric acid, dihydrogen monosulfide and sulfur hydride. It is a flammable, colorless gas with a rotten egg odor. Hydrogen sulfide can be fatal when inhaled at high concentrations. Hydrogen sulfide is immediately dangerous to life and health at concentrations of 100 parts per million and higher. People who work in pulp and paper mills, rayon textiles manufacturing, petroleum and natural gas drilling, farms with manure storage pits or landfills, sewers and wastewater treatment plants are at an increased risk of exposure to hydrogen sulfide.

  1. Acute Inhalation Exposure

    • Inhalation of hydrogen sulfide can cause loss of smell, olfactory paralysis (over 100 parts per million), dizziness, coughing, sore throat, nausea, headache, physical collapse (at 500 to 1,000 parts per million), convulsions, difficulty breathing, bluish color of the lips and nails, respiratory failure, accumulation of fluid in the lungs (at 250 to 500 parts per million), inadequate oxygenation of the blood, coma and death.

    Long-Term Effects From Acute Inhalation Exposure

    • Survivors of hydrogen sulfide exposure can experience dementia, impaired memory, impaired motor function, difficulty communicating, slow speech, difficulty retaining new information, impaired vision, reduced hearing, loss of muscle coordination and attention and concentration deficits.

    Chronic Low-Level Inhalation Exposure

    • Chronic low-level inhalation exposure to hydrogen sulfide can cause central nervous system effects, respiratory effects (such as decreased lung function and nose and throat irritation), eye irritation and blood effects (such as anemia and clotting). Chronic low-level inhalation exposure to hydrogen sulfide may cause an increased risk of death from cardiovascular problems.

    Eye Exposure

    • Eye exposure to hydrogen sulfide can severely irritate the eyes and may cause inflammation, scratchiness, tearing, burning, pain, light sensitivity, halos around lights, blurry vision and ulceration.

    Ingestion

    • Ingestion of hydrogen sulfide alone is unlikely due to its gaseous form. It may be of note, though, that pigs fed alfalfa dried with fuel that contained hydrogen sulfide eat less and gain less weight than other pigs.

    Carcinogenicity

    • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined that there is inadequate data available to assess the carcinogenic potential of hydrogen sulfide.

    Reproductive Toxicity, Mutagenicity, Teratogenicity and Embryotoxicity

    • There is insufficient information available to conclude that hydrogen sulfide is a reproductive toxin. The limited information available does not suggest that hydrogen sulfide does not induce mutation or increase the rate of mutation in DNA in bacteria, with or without metabolic activation. There is insufficient information available to conclude that hydrogen sulfide is toxic to embryos or causes malformations of an embryo or fetus.

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