Sullivan County just made Fox news.

[MikeJones]

Just watching Fox news and it just showed a clip about a truck carrying sulphur dioxide spilled over and caused quite a stink. Anybody else see this? Said it made the place smell like rotten eggs.

[NotSoSilentBob]

Sulfur Dioxide does not smell like rotten eggs.

On the other hand, hydrogen sulfide does.

[beamer_ball]

http://timesnews.net/article.php?id=9001195

Published 04/25/2007 By Timesnews.net staff report

Police closed the I-26 mid-morning at the Rock Springs and Eastern Star exits after several cannisters of sulfur dioxide in a white truck began leaking.

Early reports are sketchy, but several people were treated along the side of the road and others have been taken to the hospital after they were exposed to chemicals and complained that they were having trouble breathing.

It is not clear if a minor accident caused the wreck, but three vehicles have reportedly been contaminated.

A doctor from the Health Department was dispatched to the police command post shortly after 10 a.m.

According to Wikipedia, sulfur dioxide (SO2) is an important gas is the main product from the combustion of sulfur compounds and is of significant environmental concern. It is often described as the "smell of burning sulfur."

Sulphur dioxide is produced by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum contain various amounts of sulfur compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide. Further oxidation of SO2, usually in the presence of a catalyst such as NO2, forms H2SO4, and thus acid rain.

This story will be updated as details become available.






http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tr...4-25-0026.html

UPDATE: I-26 re-closed from morning chemical spill

Wednesday, Apr 25, 2007 - 02:55 PM BY TriCities.com Staff Reports

Emergency crews have re-closed both lanes of traffic on Interstate 26.

It will stay closed until at least 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Around 3 p.m., Washington County emergency officials said they were in the process of opening the highway. However, a few minutes later, Kingsport officials said the road would have to remain closed for now.

Specialized equipment is being brought in to respond to a chemical spill this morning.

At that time, first responders closed both northbound and southbound lanes of I-26 near Interstate 81 Wednesday after the spill from a 150-gallon drum occurred along the highway.

Authorities said that a holding tank fell from a truck was leaking chemicals in that area.

The chemical in the tank has been identified as sulfur dioxide, a colorless, non-flammable gas that can be life-threatening at levels of high exposure.


Stay tuned to TriCities.com for more details as they come in.

[MikeJones]

http://www.gcsechemistry.com/itestsulphurdioxide.htm

According to this it has a smell like bad eggs.

[NotSoSilentBob]

I've gotten quite a few whiffs of SO2, it doesn't smell like rotten eggs.

[steer]

rotten eggs smell different, to different people... geesh man.. haha i'm kidding... i'm kidding... just tryin to start an argument [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]

[NotSoSilentBob]

Like I said, hydrogen sulfide has a powerful rotten egg smell. It deadens your sense of smell in very low concentrations.

SO2 has pretty much no smell. I usually taste it rather than smell it.

As for the articles posted by beamerball, a 150 gallon drum? SO2 isn't stored in 'drums'.

150 lb. cylinders yes, but drums?

[MikeJones]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: NotSoSilentBob</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Like I said, hydrogen sulfide has a powerful rotten egg smell. It deadens your sense of smell in very low concentrations.

SO2 has pretty much no smell. I usually taste it rather than smell it.

As for the articles posted by beamerball, a 150 gallon drum? SO2 isn't stored in 'drums'.



150 lb. cylinders yes, but drums? </div></div>

Why is this such a touchy subject to you? National news said it smelled like rotten eggs. We all know sulphur smells like rotten eggs. Why do you feel the need to dispute that?