p. 327 | Sulphuric Acid in the Air

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Oct 30, 1879

Sulphuric Acid in the Air.

One of the great objections to the use of coal is its contamination of the air. This is much greater with coal than with wood. This fact seems to have been recognized as long ago as the first introduction of this kind of fuel into England. The outcry against its use at that time was so great that a royal edict was issued making its use a capital offense. It is said, indeed, that a man was actually executed for using coal in violation of the law.

The great injury from the use of coal arises from the sulphur which it contains. By the process of burning, this is converted into sulphuric acid. It is stated by good authority that the coal annually burned in England sends into the air by its combustion 3,500,000 tons of sulphuric acid. It is needless to explain to any one familiar with this terribly corrosive acid the exceedingly injurious effects of such a powerful chemical substance upon both animals and vegetables.—Good Health.