We, Sigurður Björnsson and Þröstur Þorsteinsson, recently published a paper where we compare the health limits for H2S in Iceland with other countries (states within US, and so on).
It is clear that Iceland does not have uniquely strict health limits – despite claim to the contrary by the power companies in the media.
The figure below shows the comparison (click to get a slightly larger image).
The Icelandic health limit (green line), the WHO guideline (red line) and standards/guidelines for the countries/states in question. Averaging times are in brackets.
We also gathered on one graph the various effects exposure to high levels of H2S can have, the odor detection limits, and the Icelandic and WHO health limits.
Effects of H2S on olfaction and health. If the concentration is similar to the Icelandic
health limit, it has to increase 300 fold for people to experience discomfort due to eye irritation. Red squares are maxima, green squares minima. The scale for the y-axis is logarithmic.
The WHO limit is set to avoid acute effects, and therefore not strictly comparable to the Icelandic limit, which is set to avoid health effects of long term exposure.
Reference
Sigurður Björnsson og Þröstur Þorsteinsson. 2013 (prentað 2014). Heilsuverndarmörk brennisteinsvetnis og styrkur þess á höfuðborgarsvæðinu. Náttúrufræðingurinn 83(3-4): 151 - 158.
