sea air

{{short description|Air at or by the sea}}

Sea air has traditionally been thought to offer health benefits associated with its unique odor, which is caused by dimethyl sulfide, released by microbes.{{cite news |last1=Highfield |first1=Roger |title=Secrets of 'bracing' sea air bottled by scientists |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1541342/Secrets-of-bracing-sea-air-bottled-by-scientists.html |accessdate=6 September 2018 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=February 2, 2007}}

Salts generally do not dissolve in air, but can be carried by sea spray in the form of particulate matter.

In the early 19th century, a lower prevalence of disease in coastal regions or islands was attributed to the sea air.{{cite book |title=The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, Volume 2 |date=1823 |pages=68 |chapter=Sea air}} Such medical beliefs were translated into the literature of Jane Austen and other authors.{{cite journal |last1=Darcy |first1=Jane |title=Jane Austen's Sanditon, Doctors, and the Rise of Seabathing |journal=Persuasions On-Line |volume=38 |issue=2 |url=https://jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions-online/volume-38-no-2/darcy/}} Victorians mistakenly attributed the odor of sea air to ozone.

Later that century, such beliefs led to the establishment of seaside resorts for the treatment of tuberculosis,{{cite journal |last1=Braun |first1=Adee |title=The Historic Healing Power of the Beach |journal=The Atlantic |date=29 August 2013 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/the-historic-healing-power-of-the-beach/279175/ |language=en}} with medical beliefs of its efficacy continuing into the 20th century.{{cite journal |last1=Brannan |first1=JW |title=The sea air treatment of tuberculosis of the bones and glands in children. |journal= Transactions of the American Climatological Association for the Year ... American Climatological Association|date=1905 |volume=21 |pages=107–19 |pmid=21408395|pmc=2262574 }} However, the quality of sea air was often degraded by pollution from wood- and coal-burning ships. Today those fuels are gone, replaced by high sulphur oil in diesel engines, which generate sulphate aerosols.{{citation|url=http://news.scotsman.com/health/Sea-air-carries-more-than.4402649.jp|title=Sea air carries more than scent of waves|date=19 August 2008|author=John von Radowitz|publisher=The Scotsman}}