Effects on Leather, Paper, Paint, and Glass

The cellulose fiber in paper is attacked and weakened by sulfur dioxide. Paper made before about 1750 is not significantly affected by sulfur dioxide (11). At about that time, the manufacture of paper changed to a chemical treatment process that broke down the wood fiber more rapidly. It is thought that this process introduces trace quantities of metals, which catalyze the conversion of sulfur dioxide to sulfuric add. Sulfuric acid causes the paper to become brittle and more subject to cracking and tearing. New papers have become available to minimize the interaction with SO2. 

Paints are designed to decorate and protect surfaces. During normal wear, paint chalks moderately to clean the surface continuously. A hardened paint surface resists sorption by gases, although the presence of relatively high concentrations of 2620 to 5240 SO2 (1-2 ppm) increases the drying 

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