Sulfur compounds, especially metabisulfites, are ubiquitous, widely used preservatives for many applications. They are commonly used in food as well as in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. There are numerous reports indicating the important role of metabisulfites as occupational allergens, causing allergic contact dermatitis mainly involving hands. The aim of this paper is to review the recent data on adverse reactions caused by these compounds with particular emphasis on contact allergy. The authors also present their own results of patch tests with sodium metabisulfite.