Sulfur is an essential element of all living forms. It is one of the top 8 most abundant elements in the human body. For example, a person weighing 70 kg's has about 140 grams of sulfur in them.
Sulfur is used commercially in fertilizers, in the manufacture of sulfuric acid (one of the most important industrial chemicals), in matches and traditionally in black gunpowder. 'Dusting sulfur' (powdered elemental sulfur) is used in pesticides, insecticides and fungicides and sprayed over fruit and vegetable crops.
Many meteorites contain sulfide compounds and Jupiter's volcanic moon Io has colorful areas formed by molten, solid and gaseous sulfur. The burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil produces sulfur dioxide which is largely responsible for incidents of ‘acid rain’ that have been known to occur near industrial areas.