Sea air has traditionally been thought to offer health benefits associated with its unique odor, which Victorians attributed to ozone.
More recently, it has been determined that the chemical responsible for much of the odor in air along certain seashores is dimethyl sulfide, released by microbes.
[1] 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.
Today those fuels are gone, replaced by high sulphur oil in diesel engines, which generate sulphate aerosols.